A lot of you probably don’t know this but before I became a photographer, I was a writer. I used to write for a teen magazine. Yes! I was the one who came up with those fun quizzes like “Who’s Your Celebrity Crush?” or “What Kind of a Friend Are You? One of these days I will post some of my stuff here, but I thought it would be fun to get back into writing regularly. Even though things have slowed down a bit, I’d like to keep updating my blog every day. I hope to begin teaching classes again when the weather warms up but for now I’ll be posting some photography tips here for moms (and dads) who want to learn how to take better pictures of their children. Here ya go!
GET IN CLOSE
The next time you take a picture of your children, move in close. Let their cute little mugs fill the frame of your camera. If you’ve got a zoom lens you can do this without getting up in their face. If you’ve got a prime lens, don’t be afraid to take a few steps closer.
Getting in close gives your image a lot of impact and it will also help to get rid of a cluttered background. Moving in close will cause whatever is in the background to fall out of focus.
The first thing that I notice when I look at any portrait is a person’s eyes. When you move in close it places extra emphasis on the eyes. They are the window to a person’s soul after all. Here are a few examples.
This picture was taken in a doorway. If I had zoomed out you would have noticed the door frame and the inside of the house, but I kept it nice and close and your focus is drawn to his beautiful eyes. I do a lot of close-ups in a doorway. Great light and even better catchlights.
A tight crop on this image got rid of a distracting background. This is actually my cousin and we were on my parents front porch for these maternity pictures.
So there you have it. The next time you are practicing with your camera, don’t be afraid to get in close.
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