Are you fed up with poor pictures of your kids but you don’t know how to improve? Here’s a little guide for you
I’m a professional family photographer based in Beckenham, South London and also a mum of two young and active boys. I’ve been photographing them for years and I can’t stress enough the importance of taking photos of your family to save for years to come!
This is why I’ve put together 5 tips which help you in taking better pictures of your family. In this occasion, I will not talk about camera settings, but please, if you need to advise or for any questions drop me an email at hello@piccolinophotostudio.com and I’ll come back to you.
1 BRING THE CAMERA WITH YOU ALL THE TIME
I find that the moments I want to capture are often so unpredictable, and you need to be fast and ready. So try to have the camera with you all the time not to miss that shot as it won’t come back. Avoid posing your children or to ask for a “cheese”. Instead, aim for candid shots. You probably know what makes them laugh, so make a joke, sing their favourite song and wait for that precious reaction and be ready to click. Observe what they do, hide while they are playing freely, where they run or jump. It’s that simple.
2 COMPOSE YOUR SHOT
Go down to their level and don’t be scared to lay on the floor. Experiment angles: new points of view are the ones people are attracted to as they are uncommon.
A common mistake is placing your subject in the middle of the frame making the look very static and uninteresting. Try to balance your image following a basic composition rule: The rule of thirds: this involves mentally dividing up your image using 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines, as shown below. You then position the important elements in your scene along those lines, or at the points where they meet.
Remember that what is closer to the camera is the thing that will appear bigger on your photo so bear this in mind before you compose your shot.
3 FOCUS ON THE EYES
The eyes are the soul of the person hence it is super important that the focus is on them. Take your time to make it accurate.
If you can, switch your focus mode from single focus to continuous as children are very active people and the chance they move is very high! With continuous focus, the camera will lock the focus and follow the subject.
I use my continuous focus 99% of the times. Single focus is good for static subjects, you can lock the focus and recompose your shot (keeping the shutter half way down)
4 LOOK FOR THE RIGHT LIGHT
Make sure your subject is properly lit. Avoid direct sunlight as it creates a harsh shadow on the face making the subject unflattering. Look for shade if it is a bright sunny day. If you are indoors, look for windows.
5 PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BACKGROUND
Look for simple backgrounds, not too messy and it might compromise the attention on your main subject. A nice window could be a lovely background, or some trees, the master bedroom or even a wall. Remember to zoom in if you want to reduce your background and move further away from your subject. If you want more story and include part of your background then zoom out. Also, bear in mind that when you zoom in your background (if far away from your subject) will be much more blurred than if you zoom out where there will be not so much separation.
I’m a lifestyle and natural photographer and I’ve been working professionally for over4 years now.
I enjoy taking pictures of my kids more than ever before and I love playing with new techniques and new lights. My walls are just covered with their photos and I’m proud of it as they will keep my memories so clear and crisp when I’ll look at them in years to come.
I hope I help you a bit with this little guide for your family pictures
If you want to look for more work please visit my website www.piccolinophotostudio.com and if you want to book a family portrait session please get in touch!!!