I recently attended a friend’s wedding in Ohio this past summer. Before leaving for the wedding, my little sister (who loves taking pictures) stopped by to lend me her digital camera. She told me to take lots of pictures because she wanted to see what all the girls’ dresses looked like. And since I am not that great with a camera, my sister took a few minutes to pass along some of our family photo tips. These photo tips included:

1. Be Discrete: Try not to stick out like a sore thumb while taking pictures. This might make people feel uncomfortable and lead to unnatural poses.
2. Don’t Be Afraid: If you want to take someone’s picture, don’t be afraid to ask.
3. Take Proper Pictures. Do not take any embarrassing pictures of the people hosting the party. A good rule of thumb: don’t take the picture if you wouldn’t feel comfortable sending it as your own photo holiday cards.

So I took my sister’s digital camera and family photo tips to Ohio. I had a great time at the wedding and the digital photos turned out even better. When developing the pictures I decided to make two sets…one for me (and my nosey sister) and another for the bride and groom.

A few weeks later I got a phone call from my friend who got married. He said that they loved the pictures I sent and felt that some of my shots turned out better than the professional photographer’s. In fact, they decided to use one of my digital photos for their photo holiday cards. I immediately thought of my sister’s photo tips and gave her a call. It felt good that I made my friends happy with the pictures, but my sister was even happier that her older brother actually listened to her advice.