Wow, what a crazy time to be alive! We are all dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic and mostly staying at home, with business closed and events cancelled. I read an article that called this time period the Great Pause, and I kind of love that. I'm sure many of you are looking for ways to document these strange and possible wonderful moments with your family. Maybe you have a fancy camera sitting around, or maybe you have only an iPhone, maybe your kiddo is 18 months or maybe they are 10 years old. Whatever gear you have, whatever age your kiddo is, I compiled some of my best tips to help you capture great photos of what the Great Pause looked like for your family. Because one day your kids will ask what it was like, and as much as I wish I could come over and take photos of your family, but I can't. (I am one of those people who ALWAYS follows the rules, no matter how much it kills me right now! UGH I have always been this way--- I can't bear to break the rules, especially when the government is involved! LOL)
There’s a saying that the best camera is the one that’s always with you. I used to take my DSLR camera with me everywhere I went in college. Fast forward to today, I am more likely to have my iPhone in my bag than a giant camera. And it’s no surprise that most of us capture the majority of our pics with our iPhones. While I’d never want to give up my DSLR camera, I use my iPhone camera more. The reason is simple. The iPhone is always with me. It's quick and easy.
Even your iPhone pics will improve right off the bat if you use a few basic principals. These tips are aimed at Moms and Dads who mostly take pics of their kids and family life. I intentionally chose to take some everyday, not-ideal-conditions, images to illustrate this point. It makes no sense for me to set up the picture perfect moment and then offer these tips. We need real-life, hard-working tips. I took all of these photos years ago for a talk I was giving to a local MOPS group. My son Elliott was about 3 or 4 years old, and as I typed this, I am loving the chance to revisit these old photos. He's seven now and still just as cute but man these photos sure do make me wish for the good ol days with baby Elliott =)
This first picture I snapped is what I see 4 out of 5 parents do. They stand about 3 ft away from their kid, point down at him, and shoot. You end up with an image like this.
So bashful and cute! It’s not bad, but what I want you to notice is all of the extra space (and distracting clutter) that’s NOT part of the main subject. Elliott occupies only about 7% of the frame. Meanwhile there’s all this space around him that’s not really contributing to this particular image.
TIP # 1-- Fill the frame
Either zoom in on your subject, or use your feet and walk closer. Whatever the case, try to fill the frame with your subject. To do this on an iPhone, I highly recommend you use your feet to zoom, and not “pinch in” to zoom. “Pinching in” will often result in camera shake or grainy images.
Here's another picture, just a couple steps closer and this time I fill the frame.
Sure, there’s a time when extra space can be a good choice. There’s a time when “context” is helpful to tell the story. But when you're mindful of filling the frame with your main subject, good things happen. The image becomes uncluttered. Simpler. Easier to process. More dramatic. More impactful.
All good things simply by filling the frame.
It’s an improvement from where we started. You can improve a lot more by simply choosing a better perspective with the camera.
TIP #2- Choose a new Perspective
I challenge you to look beyond taking pics just standing up, especially when taking pics of your kids. When in doubt, place the camera at your subject’s eye level. This will produce an intimate perspective, especially with close ups. Take the example of taking pics of your 2 year old. Take the pic standing, and your background is always carpet, concrete, grass. What if you squat down?
Lay on the ground, and you'll go from the floor being your background, to all kinds of far more interesting backgrounds. And whether it’s a tree, a sunset or anything in between, its usually much more interesting
I knelt down, clicked. Below eye level. There’s that silly Elliott….
This one was taken at the exact same spot...and just moments later. But I filled the frame and choose a new perspective. The image becomes uncluttered. Simpler.
TIP #3-- Off with their heads!
Let’s take it a step further, fill the frame SO much that you actually “cut off” your kid's head. I do this ALL THE TIME. I know it will fill the frame with the face. And in doing so, you’ll see into the EYES of your subject. Now instead of placing your subject dead center, instead imagine a tic tac toe board on your image and position subject along a line or at an intersection. In the art world, this is called the rule of thirds. The extra space on the side is actually called “negative space” and it creates balance. I usually try to place the eyes in one of these intersections, which makes the eyes the focal point of the image.
The three tips we just talked about work with ANY camera, be it an iPhone, a point and shoot or a fancy camera. Fill the frame, choose a new perspective and employ the rule of thirds. Start using these three tips and your photos will start improving quickly.
Many years ago, we bought Elliott a mini vacuum, he LOVED it. I pulled out my iPhone to try to capture what my eye saw so vividly, but one quick snap left me far from satisfied. I scrambled upstairs to grab my camera and took another photo- now that’s more like it!
These images were taken mere minutes apart, in the same room with the same lighting. It reminded me that I need to use my camera more often.
I started wondering what would make my fancy camera more convenient. More accessible. So that I’d default to it as my only camera more often, and I made one very simple change.
I put my camera on the kitchen counter. Not only that, but I made sure the battery was charged and that the memory card was cleared off. I put my camera in the busiest, most accessible part of the house, loaded and ready to go.
Such a simple change. My husband even teased me about this tip. But later, he admitted that he, too, was more likely to grab the camera when it was on the counter than in the camera bag.
In the days following this simple change, I took more photos than all the previous month combined. I know many are thinking: "What if it gets broken?" Here is what I suggest- Keep it out until you’ve snapped a few photos that day. Then put it away in a safer place. Having the camera ready allows you to pick it up and put it to work capturing both the good and the bad.
By simply having my camera out and ready to go, I’m ready to take capture all the fun moments with a better camera! Your camera doesn't have to be top of the line, a point and shoot will work too. Just make sure its somewhere accessible, ready to go =)
As parents, you understand how quickly our kids grow up, how fleeting these everyday moments are.. Dozens of memories come and go every day. I don’t want you to miss it. Photography is a great way to capture your lives. AND I have news for you: you’re a part of that. You need to be in pictures!!
TIP #5- Be there too!
So you don’t like to have your photo taken, huh? I don’t, either. I say this lovingly-- you need to get over it. Take a shower, put on a little makeup, throw on that shirt you love, be BRAVE momma! No matter what, your children won’t care about how your makeup looks or your outfit. But feeling confident goes a long way toward how you feel. What your kids will care about is that they can see what their mom looked like at 25/35/45, that she played with them, that she laughed with them …. Sometimes we need more than just the memories.
Here are a few tips that help me take photos of Elliott and I-
Haul out the tripod--It’s not necessary, but it sure does help. You could set up a mountain of books to get your camera to the right height, but a tripod allows you to really secure your camera.
Use a timer- dig out that camera manual or google “how to use the timer on XYZ camera”
Don’t be above bribery to get them to cooperate. Snacks make everybody happy =)
And finally, have fun. This isn’t a one time deal, if the kids aren’t cooperating, you can always try again tomorrow. I bet you get some keepers anyways, like this hilarious series from when we tried to take our own Christmas card photo with a squirmy three year old Elliott.
If you’re still with me, thanks so much for letting me share these tips with you. I hope that you can use even one of these tips to learn how to take better pictures so that you can capture all of your everyday moments for when a professional photographer can’t be there.