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People Photography
Birthdays, Weddings, and Holidays are a great time to gather the family and a great opportunity to celebrate and record family.
With out any doubt our most precious photographs are those we take of people. Friends, family, children, these are the photos that will draw us back to the photo album as the years pass and bring us the greatest joy. Don't underestimate the importance of what you are doing as the family memory keeper. Treat each shot as a portrait not just a snapshot and you will reap the rewards in “wow factor” and your own satisfaction.
Here are some tips to help you create great portrait photos.
Fill the frame
In most cases, the face is the important subject. Go closer, zoom in or when you're printing, consider cropping into the face of your subject(s).
Watch the eyes
It's said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. They are certainly the most important feature in a portrait and should always be in sharp focus.
Cuddle up
When photographing more than one person, encourage them to get closer together. Minimising the gap between them gives a greater feeling of relationship. Have shoulders overlap and heads tilted in together.
Relax
Try to avoid the rigid standing to attention portrait. Have your subject sit down or lean against something. Encourage them to relax and adopt a natural pose that better expresses their personality. Watch how they hold themselves normally and recreate that when you're photographing them.
Children tend to either uncomfortable in front of a camera or too conditioned. They adopt a false smile whenever they see a camera coming. A simple distraction of a favorite (or new) toy will take their mind off the camera allowing a more natural portrait. Often the candid photo works best with children. Stand a bit further away and zoom in on them as they play naturally
Light is right
As with any photography, lighting is the key. If the lighting is poor where you are, it may be worth moving the subject to where the light is better. Indoors, flash can be harsh and un-natural. If you are able, move the subject to where natural window light falls on them and turn the flash off. Conversely, outdoors can have the problem of shadows falling across the face of your subject. Turn the flash on to fill-in those shadows.
Show off
Of course all of this hard work is for nought if you don't share your results. Make sure you print your photos and do duplicates of the best ones to give to your subjects. They will think you're wonderful and it may be the best photo they see of themselves. Enlarge and frame the special shots to display them around home. You get the double joy of having great looking portraits of people you love and the satisfaction of knowing that you created the photograph yourself.
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