Author Archives: Betsy Davis

About Betsy Davis

Betsy Davis is a wife, mom, and portrait photographer living in northwestern Missouri. She is the owner and principle photographer of Betsy Davis Photography. Her love of photography was born out of a lifelong passion for documenting memories, and is rivaled by an (almost) equal love for good coffee and sunny weather. Stay connected with Betsy through her website, Facebook and Instagram pages!

Wondering why you should use back button focus? Back button focus usually confuses photographers at first but once they “get it”, they love it! If there is anything I wish I had known sooner in my journey as a photographer, it would be this one simple thing: Back Button Focus. Back button focusing has been …

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Photography Fundamentals

Back Button Focus Explained – What Is It & Why You Need It!

One of the most valuable tools, but perhaps one of the most misunderstood, is your camera’s histogram. Histo-what? We aren’t talking about Instagram’s cousin here. If you’ve been confused by that fancy chart they call a histogram, you’re in the right place! In this tutorial, we will break down using a histogram so you understand what your …

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Photography Fundamentals

The Histogram Explained: How to Read a Histogram & What it Means

It’s not uncommon to have a photo that needs some touch up due to under eye circles, or dark circles under the client’s eye. There are several ways to edit something like this, and today I’m going to show you my favorite, quick method. My Easy Fix My favorite method for fixing under eye circles is …

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Lightroom

How to Brighten Eyes in Lightroom With One Simple Trick

Ever wonder how the heck to swap faces in Photoshop? Don’t worry, it’s easier than you think! I’m mostly a Lightroom girl, but every now and then there are things I need to do that make Adobe Photoshop a must-have. One of those things is doing a head swap. Every now and then, I run …

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Photoshop

How to do a Head Swap in Photoshop (It’s SO easy, I promise)!!

Are you looking to accentuate beautiful lighting in your images? With this tutorial, you will know how to add a light flare overlay in Photoshop! What is Lens Flare? Lens flare happens when a bright directional light hits the camera directly or by reflection. The light scatters inside the lens, creating visible marks like-colored circles, …

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Photoshop

How to Add a Photoshop Lens Flare Overlay… the Easy Way!

If you’ve ever had a “grumpy dad” at one of your photo sessions, you aren’t alone. These tips can help! Here’s how it usually goes down: You arrive at your photo session, all pumped up and ready to rock. You’ve reviewed all your poses, you’ve got everyone’s names memorized, the light is gorgeous and up …

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Business

Our Must Know Tips for Working with Grumpy Dads

Have you ever wondered how to make your posing better? Are you looking for natural and relaxed photos, but always seem to end up with clients who look stiff? These natural posing tips can help! We all want to be able to pose our clients in a way that gives us the photos we imagine, …

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Posing

Natural Posing Tips: 3 Ways to Make Your Posing More Relaxed

Learn our 5 Keys for Photographers and Start Taking Better Family Photos Today! If you are just venturing into the world of family portraits, the idea of managing an entire family photo session and turning out great images can be an intimidating one. But after shooting hundreds of family sessions, I can tell you that …

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Portraits

5 Keys to Taking Better Family Photos

Your Key Steps for Growing Your Photography Business from the Ground Up Starting your photography business from the ground up can feel like an intimidating task. Whether you have just moved to a new city, or even if you haven’t moved but are looking to grow your business right where you are, it can be …

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Business

5 Tips for Growing Your Photography Business in a New Area

In This Family Portrait Tutorial You’ll Discover the Key to Capturing Natural & Authentic Moments That Your Clients will Love! One of the best ways to set your photos apart is to grow in your ability to capture authentic connection in your family sessions. While traditional, posed portraits are fine, there is something unique and …

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Portraits

Family Portrait Tutorial: 3 Tips to Capture Emotion & Connection in Your Family Sessions

Looking for tips to grow your photography business? So you made it official: You started your photography business! At this point you’ve probably done some portfolio building, created a Facebook page, set some prices, and have had a few sessions with family and friends. You might even have a couple brand new clients! But… then …

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Business

3 Tips to Grow Your Photography Business

Get Sharper Photos FAST With These Easy to Implement Tips for Sharper Photos! If there is ONE thing a photo needs to be, it’s sharp. Unless you’re purposefully aiming for an out of focus, creative look, getting sharper photos is something I think all of us are working towards. And guessing by the number of …

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Photography Fundamentals

6 Simple Tips for Sharper Photos

We’ve all been there: the butterflies in the stomach, the anxiety, desperately hoping to remember everything you want to do… Preparing for a photo session can be nerve wracking! And to be honest, even after photographing hundreds of sessions, I still get butterflies before heading into a shoot. But I also have a few ways that …

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Inspiration & Motivation

Photo Session Jitters: 3 Ways to Calm Your Nerves Before a Photo Session

What is the best way to save money on new photography gear? Let’s face it: as photographers, all of us love some new gear don’t we? It comes with the territory, I think. We are always interested in what kind of gear others are using, and it’s fun to see what using new gear is …

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Business

4 Ways to Save Money on New Photography Gear

The graduated filter tool is an excellent resource when you need editing across a certain area of an image. This tool is incredibly versatile, and a great one to have in your post-processing back pocket! What is the Graduated Filter? The Graduated Filter tool in Lightroom allows you to make adjustment to a certain area …

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Lightroom

Quick Tips for Using the Graduated Filter in Lightroom

Some of the terms in photography can be a little confusing. Take focal length, for example. We know it refers to the lens on our camera, but what exactly is it? Understanding focal lenght will help you know which lens to purchase and how to use it for a wide variety of photographic applications. Which …

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Photography Fundamentals

What is Focal Length and Which Lens Should I Use?