Here are a few pics that I took last weekend. I thought that it would be cool to share with you what I did to capture these!
First..allow your children to 'be themselves'. I can't tell you how important that is to an image. I let my kids select their own outfits and accessories. This makes them happy, comfortable and they just feel good when they think they look good!!! Remember you can always make the image black and white or zoom in to get a close up if the outfits is tooooooo much...lol!!!
Second..look at the light. Is is harsh and creating shadows on your subject? That's not the look you are going for. Place your subject in the shade...not too much shade though, it should be 'open shade' meaning there is still lots of available light to illuminate your subject. Have them face the direction of the light... if it's too bright and they are squinting wait until later in the day or look for another location. This may be your porch, patio, deck or any place. Don't make a production about it...try this at home initially, everyone will be more relaxed! Another thing to look for is the 'catch lights' that little sparkle in their eyes. When you get this you will know it and it makes amazing portraits.
Third..TURN OFF THE FLASH!!!! If you have a SLR camera, place the camera in the AV mode, open your lens wide...the aperature should be 2.8 or 3.2...etc. The smaller the number, the wider the opening to capture 'more light'. This also gives you that blur to the background. You will need to 'focus' your camera on one of the eyes, otherwise your camera will choose a focal point for you and with a wide aperature, this may cause your image to not be a sharp as you want. ( with an aperature of 2.8 or larger, the whole in the lens is very large, this allows alot of light to come in, but not much will be in sharp focus, so you have to focus in on the most important part of the image to 'draw in' the attention. With a portrait, the most important part is the 'eyes'...so focus there!!!!)
Here are some examples:
My technical info: Canon 5D camera, Canon Lens 24-70mm f/2.8
AV mode, aperaure 2.8, shutter speed 1/400, ISO 160, focal length 52mm. I shot these images around 3pm on my porch and on the side of my home under a small oak tree. The light was directly in front of the subject, my home faces the east, so the sun was 'above' my house. This resulted in 'indirect lighting' which was perfect for these images! Notice the brightness to the eyes...but they aren't squinting!!!
I already posted the image below...but needed to show you the 'catch lights'!!! These are perfect catch lights....her eyes literally look like mirrors....this really makes the image 'POP'!!!
Last tip....RELAX AND HAVE FUN!!! I never pose my children. I allow them to create the image. Sometimes I make suggestions but, usually more times than not...they are just doing what seems natural for them!!!
Hope these tips help you! Let me know what you think and I would love to see some of your own images using my tips!
Read your manual and practice, practice, practice!!! Things will start coming together...trust me ;)!!!
