Celebrity photographer Eric Doggett offers Daddy Troy photography advice on today's episode of Gear Daddy. Watch as he shares some valuable photography tips that you can use when taking baby photos or a family portrait. From the simple rule of thirds tip that will really make your pictures stand out to determining when to use your flash camera, this is a great video to watch for all budding photographers who want beautiful baby pics and family photos. DadLabs ep 492 is brought to you by BabyBjorn.

DADDY TROY: Welcome back to Gear Daddy. I’m your host Daddy Troy. Eric Doggett’s back and he’s going to give us three hints on how to shoot your baby’s photos like a pro.

ERIC: This episode is brought to you by Baby Bjorn, quality baby gear, Baby Bjorn.

DADDY TROY: So Eric, thanks for coming back.

ERIC: Sure.

DADDY TROY: Besides being a professional photographer you also have a book called…

ERIC: Ten Tips to Shoot Your Baby Like a Movie Star. It’s a little e-book that I put together that gives people some tips and ways they can improve their photography.

DADDY TROY: Stick around to the end of the episode and we’ll tell you how to get a discount on that book through DadLabs.

ERIC: That’s right.

DADDY TROY: Great. Super. Today we’re going to go over three hints. Let’s hear them.

ERIC: Yes. Three tips that if you follow these your photography will just go up to the next level quite noticeably.

First one, really simple, use the rule of thirds. This is a little technique that all photographers start with. If you take your picture and you look at this image which is a grid and you apply that to your picture as you take it, what you want to do is place your subject at the intersection of any of these lines and that adds visual interest to the image. You might have more scenery around them or some open space but using the rule of thirds is a great way to add some pop to your image and make them look a little more professional.

DADDY TROY: Ok, so what’s the second hint?

ERIC: The second hint is knowing when to not use your flash. A lot of these cameras come with built in flashes and you can do your images a big service by learning when to turn them off.

When you take a picture your camera wants to decide whether to use a flash or whether not to based on what it sees in the scene. If we look at this image of my son, this image was taken with window light directly behind me but the flash was turned on so the camera thought it needed to use the flash so it did. What happens is while the subject is exposed well the background has gone dark because the camera thinks that the flash was necessary. Just the simple act of turning the flash off and leaving the camera in automatic the whole time can give you better results like this one right here where we now see that with the same window light the subject is illuminated much better, the background shows up and it’s just a more pleasing image with soft lighting. Find the switch on your camera that lets you turn the flash off and learn when to use it and when not to and you can get some great pictures.

DADDY TROY: Which brings us to our third point.

ERIC: The third point is knowing when to turn the flash on. A lot of people when they’re outdoors think that the flash probably should be off because your outdoors and it’s sunny. You can get better images by keeping the flash on. So if you maybe position your subject under a tree and leave the flash on or force it to turn on it will fill in the shadow areas like underneath the eyes a little bit and you’ll get a better image because the light around your subject is more even. So learning when to use it and when not to and taking it out of that automatic mode, just for the flash not for everything else, is going to enhance your images.

DADDY TROY: Now do I have to have a really professional camera in order to turn off the flash or do I even point and shoot cameras -

ERIC: No, even point and shoot cameras will allow you to. Usually you’ll see a setting like flash is either auto or on or it’s off so take it out of that auto mode and experiment with it on or off and see how that affects the quality of pictures.

DADDY TROY: If you want some more hints about shooting your baby like a movie star you’ve got to get your book.

ERIC: It’s an e-book called Ten Tips to Shoot Your Baby Like a Movie Star. It’s available at BoxOfficeBaby.com and you’ll just go there and you’ll see a link to it on the left.

DADDY TROY: And DadLabs viewers get a discount.

ERIC: Yeah, they get a discount. It’s 20% off. Just use the code DadLabs to get it.

DADDY TROY: DadLabs, all one word. D A D L A B S. Of course you’re watching DadLabs.com. We’ll see you next time.