I love to take photos of the everyday things. I want to capture all of the childhood memories. I never want to forget the things that were special for my children and so I photograph everything.

Portraits are my real love but other things I photograph include:

• Hands (doing, playing, holding)
• Feet
• Childhood ‘friends’ (favourite toys)
• Special memories
• Favourite foods

When I first started taking photos, I centralised everything. There it was, smack in the middle of the frame and often I had too much background. The shots were ok – they captured the object – but they didn’t evoke any emotion… they weren’t extraordinary.


So, I set about finding ways to bring them to life.

• Try offsetting the subject, instead of having it in the middle of the frame. Sometimes a shift to the left or right will do wonders.
• Cut out as much background as you can, or if you have background, make sure there is nothing that will take your eye from the subject.

• Sometimes it’s okay to cut things out. By this I mean, don’t be afraid to take even half of the object you are photographing out of the frame. Especially if it means you can get close up and record intricate detail.

• Don’t be confined to portrait or landscape, try the ‘tilt.’ Sometimes if you put the subject on the diagonal, it adds interest.




• Group things together. An example of this was my daughter’s dress ups for the morning – a wand, a beach hat and a handbag.

Why don’t you try some of these? The beauty of digital photography is that you can experiment and if it doesn’t work out, you can always delete.

My biggest tip for making the ordinary extraordinary is to practice and don’t be afraid to try different things.

Share your photo tips or ask questions about these! Join us at the forum!

When Tiff isn’t spouting photography tips, she is blogging about life with seven little Australians over at Three Ring Circus.