10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Family Photographs
1. Get to know your camera.
Half an hour spent reading the instruction book and getting to know
what your camera can do, really will be time well spent. Practice using
the camera without film until you feelconfident with the controls.
Practice holding the camera very firmly when pressing the shutter, as
any movement will result in a blurred picture. Tucking your arms
tightly into your body helps to avoid this. Or look around for
something to support the camera. A wall, a ledge, seat or tree branch
would be ideal.
2. Get in close.
Fill the viewfinder with your subject and you are sure to improve your
pictures. A telephoto or zoom lens is obviously the easiest way to do
this but even with a compact camera you canusually get much closer than
you think. Consult your instruction book. Getting down to your child's
level will make this easier and and improve the shot too.
3. Look carefully at the background.
We've all seen photographs of people with lamp posts or telegraphpoles
growing out of their heads, but it's the less obvious background
muddles that often ruin pictures. The washing on the line in the garden
or clutter on the sofa or table. Change your position if you cannot
change the child's.
4. Turn the camera round.
Taking the picture with your camera in the vertical position can be an
easy way to cut out a lot of unnecessary background and give you more
of the child in the shot. If using your camera this way up feels
strange, practice without film until it feels comfortable. Using your
camera in this position avoids a lot of cut off heads and feet too.
5. Photograph children in their natural environment.
Pictures taken in their bedrooms surrounded by toys, crawling out of
their den in the garden or hanging from the climbing frame in the park
are much more likely to be successful than formally posed shots in
their best clothes perched on the edge of the sofa. Photograph them
when they're grubby and scruffy as well as in their Sunday best.
6. Become invisible.
The very best natural, unposed pictures will be taken when your child
is totally unaware of your existence. This can be achieved by the use
of a telephoto or zoom lens or just by being so quiet that they forget
about you. If this is impossible, the other trick is to talk to them
about what they are doing, thus turning their attention back to the
activity and away from the camera. If you feel that flash lights will
frighten your baby or distract your child, use a fast film, 400 or
higher, and you should be able to take photographs indoors in a fairly
bright room without flash. Side lighting from a window can be effective
but don't place your children directly in front of a window or their
faces will be in shadow.
7. Sea, sand and sky.
Is there anything more depressing than getting back the prints of your
family on that paradise beach to find them all pictured as black
silhouettes against a perfectly exposed sky? This happens because the
large amount of back light tricks the camera's exposure meter into
thinking that the whole scene is receiving lots of light, but as we
have seen, faces are in shadow. The only way to correct this is to use
fill in flash to lighten the shadows, or a large piece of white card,
held just out of shot, to reflect light back on to the faces. Check
your instruction book again as some cameras have a back light
compensation switch especially to help solve this problem. Avoid
shooting at midday as this is when the shadows will be harshest. Try to
move your child so that the light falls from the side if possible.
8. Dressing up.
Having a few props ready can make for a fun session. Hats are a
favourite with children, but shawls, flowers, baskets and dressing up
clothes as well as toys and teddies will all help you compose
interesting pictures, especially when children do the unexpected with
them! Don't necessarily go for a smile on every shot, try to capture a
whole range of expressions.
9. Sports and action shots.
There are two ways of photographing action. The first is to use a high
shutter speed which, like flash, will effectively freeze the motion,
giving a sharp picture but losing the sense of movement. The second
method is panning, or following the child with the camera. Focus on the
spot where your child will be arriving and follow the action with the
camera, pressing the shutter very smoothly and keeping the pan going
for a few seconds afterwards. This results in a sharp picture of your
child but with a streaked background giving a much better feel of the
action. Remember it is easier to photograph motion that is coming
towards you than passing by in front.
10. Collecting your prints from the processor need not be the end of the story.
Why not have your prints enlarged so that you can hang them on the wall
and enjoy them every day. Or scan them into your computer and set them
as wallpaper or make them into screensavers. If there is a problem with
Aunt Sally's slippers in the left hand corner, many processing houses
offer selective enlargements where they will just enlarge the part you
want. It is also possible to have your photographs printed on to a
paper that gives the look of a painting on canvas, or you can have
pictures made into posters, puzzles, table mats, even mugs and plates.
Happy snapping! (c) Colleen Moulding 2000
Colleen Moulding is a freelance writer living in the south of England.
She is also owner/editor of All That Women Want.com http://www.allthatwomenwant.com a magazine, web guide and resource for women everywhere.
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