three tips on taking BETTER PHOTOS of your kids from a professional
Capturing family moments is easy to do, once you know how. Family Photographer Helen from Helen Lynch Photography is sharing her top 3 tips on how to take the best photos of your children.
The great thing about these is that they focus on composition, so you don’t need a fancy camera, or even the latest iPhone, to be able to implement them. Just use whatever camera you have.
Helen says, “Whatever camera or phone you have, composition is king. Thinking about how to compose your image, rather than just taking a quick point-and-shoot job, will quickly elevate your images. I’ve picked my three favourite tips for you below to be able to get started right away. Try them out next time you’re at the park or heading for a day out!”
Tip 1 - Framing – Think INSIDE the box!
The key to a good photo is guiding the viewer to where you want them to look, and telling a story. Framing does this as it draws attention to a particular part of your composition. Look for anything within the scene you are photographing that can be used to frame your subject. Something to place them within – it could be a doorway, a window, a gap in the trees. It also adds texture, depth, and interest to your composition, so will elevate the visual impact massively! As you can see in my examples I have used a climbing frame, a den in the woods, and the trees and foliage of the natural surroundings to do this. They’re guiding the viewer towards the subject, adding interest, and helping me to tell the story.
Tip 2 - Rules of thirds
This is one of the major ‘rules’ of photography. Basically, it just means you don’t always have to have your subject in the middle of the photo, but it does need to be balanced. This can be achieved by following the rules of thirds – to have your subject fall somewhere along the grid lines as you can see in these examples here. This way the subject isn’t too near the edge, and doesn’t look like they were meant to be in the middle but are just slightly off. It’s balanced! (and in my opinion, often a lot more interesting than just having the subject in the middle).
Tip 3 - Mix up your angles – get down low!
I’ve saved this one until last because it would be the one thing I’d ask you to remember if you could only do one! Please please try out different angles! 99% of the time we take a photo by standing towards the subject, putting the camera at our own eye level, and taking the shot, but so much can be achieved by trying out new angles!
For kids in particular I recommend trying to get down to their level before you take their picture. Even better, get down on the ground! Taking pictures from a low angle adds so much more interest. The foreground you will capture layers the image and gives it depth and balance. It also helps the viewer to see the image more through the eyes of a child, which will add to the story telling element.
For more information and to book Helen for a shoot whether it is for a family shoot or personal branding you can visit her website and also follow her on Instagram.