Choosing a location to do a little photo shoot is so fun. At least I think it is. :) If you’re taking pictures of little kids, remember their small. So…you don’t have to have a huge background for a close up face shot. You can use just a portion of a wall, or just a door, or simply part of a window sill or edge. For example, these shots below.
This one was taken on a wall that had a bunch of distracting stuff on it (painted text, a big billiard ball, a door and windows). But all I needed was a small space for this little one.
These pictures were taken with just a portion of a window’s blue edging….a very small blue space.
This picture was taken in front of a graffiti covered garbage bin or storage bin. I’m not even sure what it was. But we liked the colors on it. :)
I’m not sure what the appropriate term for this is but I call it “spotty shade”. You know that shade from trees and the leaves from the trees that creates random inconsistent shade? Some people have sunny spots a portion of their face. And they also have shady spots on their faces.
Forgive these not super lovely pictures. But they serve the purpose of a visual example. :)
This picture below has spotty shade from the trees/leaves above them. Do you see the spots of shade and sun on a couple of the kids faces?
Then this picture below is in full shade. Though it’s not the most fabulous or interesting picture. The kids are all in full shade. See the difference?
The simple act of avoiding spotty shade will make your images much better.
Give those kiddos some eye contact.
Just a simple easy idea…a quick tip and something that happens to work for me. A large portion of my photography is little kids. And these kids (4 months to 5 years old) don’t quite get what we’re doing when we’re trying to take their pictures. Think about it for a minute. We expect them to stand or sit still, look at a large black un-interesting object, smile pleasantly, while we mess with our cameras. It doesn’t quite make sense to them. So…give your little ones some eye contact.
For example, get your camera settings ready and good to go. Focus your camera. Maintain your focus and then pull your face away from the camera a bit. Look at them with your eyes, not just through your view finder. Peek up at them and give them something to smile at. Click the shutter while you’re still looking into their eyes…while you’re giving them eye contact. The smiles will be (I think) more genuine and they’ll have something to look at….your goofy face! :)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
So, you’re all set and you’ve got your eye in the viewfinder and you’re ready to “click” the shutter. BUT WAIT….move in closer (or zoom in closer if you’re using a zoom lens) to your subject (child, hubby, cat, whatever)….now take the picture. Get up close and personal. SO much more life, especially when photographing a child.
If you’ve got a beautiful composition and you need the snow or the trees or the barn in the picture then, yes, absolutely take that first picture. And then after that….go in closer and take it again.
Here’s an easy, fantastic camera tip. When taking pictures outside in the middle of the day (the bright part of the day when the sun is mostly intense and directly above) try to choose shade.
Below is a quick snapshot in full sun. First off, it was so bright that little miss Molly didn’t even want to look up. Second the bright sun was primarily above her and so her face and eyes became all dark and shadowy. And for us adults often it creates those dark circles under our eyes that we’re not so fond of (unless you fill with flash, which we’re trying to learn to shoot without right now).
Now this image below was shot in open shade. Open shade (by my own definition in my brain) is when there’s a full open amount of shade created by a lot of trees or a building or something large. It’s not that spotty shade that has some sun and some shade and creates funny marks on people’s faces. Know what I mean? Full open shade. Now little Molly can look into my camera with her big blue eyes and it catches more of her, purely her. Not her and all the shadows, etc, etc.
