Family Photojournalist: Tips for Better Pictures
My career has been spent preparing students to become professional photojournalists, and I love seeing what they do with pictures of their families on holiday cards, websites, and scrapbooks. So, I always feel bad when I meet amateurs who lament lost memories when their pictures don’t turn out… especially scrapbookers, who do so much more with their images than leave them in a shoebox. It's been amazing to me to learn how many people I know are into scrapbooking... and you can imagine that I always get lots requests for advice on how to take better pictures.
I encourage scrapbookers to think and to see like photojournalists — because scrapbookers tell stories with pictures, as do photojournalists.
Anticipation is one strategy of the photojournalist. Watch for moments that are part of an event or story — not just static poses. If you see one of your kids eyeing another eating an ice cream cone, for example, anticipate.
Raise your camera, frame the picture… the two may next be sharing the cone or fighting over it, but you are likely to capture a moment worth preserving in any case… particularly if you keep shooting. We used to be limited to 36 shots, maximum, to a roll of film. Digital cameras provide unlimited opportunities to record wonderful stories, even as they unfold.
Light is often the crucial difference between a memorable image and a missed opportunity. Without enough light, photos are blurry or dark.
If the ice cream confrontation occurs in dim light, your pictures may be blurry. Flash can stop action, but when used direct, it causes awful shadows, the cave effect… and red-eye. (At least those old flashed black-and-white family shots didn’t give us all demonic eyes! Thanks to color photos, I bet you’ve got a few demons in your family…)
Think about it. The pop-up flash sends light straight out from a spot aligned with your forehead! Do you know of any other light that comes from this direction? If your photos look nothing like the moments you thought you had recorded, that is why.
Natural light comes from above (the sky or a ceiling light) or from the side (a window or a lamp). Professional photographers use expensive external flashes instead of the pop-up flash so that they can redirect the light to a ceiling or wall to create soft, natural light. You can buy an external flash, too, and learn to create natural light — or you can use the Lightscoop® — which redirects the light from the pop-up flash on digital SLRs to a ceiling to create soft overhead light (which eliminates red-eye and that awful cave effect) — or to a wall to create beautiful, window-like light when the camera is turned vertically.
Remember… think and shoot like a photojournalist. Anticipate action before it occurs. Make sure there is enough light to record it crisply. Control the flash indoors so that all the people in your family story are well lit. And keep shooting until you are sure you have caught the perfect moment in every small story that unfolds in your family and among your friends.
I encourage scrapbookers to think and to see like photojournalists — because scrapbookers tell stories with pictures, as do photojournalists.
Anticipation is one strategy of the photojournalist. Watch for moments that are part of an event or story — not just static poses. If you see one of your kids eyeing another eating an ice cream cone, for example, anticipate.
Raise your camera, frame the picture… the two may next be sharing the cone or fighting over it, but you are likely to capture a moment worth preserving in any case… particularly if you keep shooting. We used to be limited to 36 shots, maximum, to a roll of film. Digital cameras provide unlimited opportunities to record wonderful stories, even as they unfold.
Light is often the crucial difference between a memorable image and a missed opportunity. Without enough light, photos are blurry or dark.
If the ice cream confrontation occurs in dim light, your pictures may be blurry. Flash can stop action, but when used direct, it causes awful shadows, the cave effect… and red-eye. (At least those old flashed black-and-white family shots didn’t give us all demonic eyes! Thanks to color photos, I bet you’ve got a few demons in your family…)
Think about it. The pop-up flash sends light straight out from a spot aligned with your forehead! Do you know of any other light that comes from this direction? If your photos look nothing like the moments you thought you had recorded, that is why.
Natural light comes from above (the sky or a ceiling light) or from the side (a window or a lamp). Professional photographers use expensive external flashes instead of the pop-up flash so that they can redirect the light to a ceiling or wall to create soft, natural light. You can buy an external flash, too, and learn to create natural light — or you can use the Lightscoop® — which redirects the light from the pop-up flash on digital SLRs to a ceiling to create soft overhead light (which eliminates red-eye and that awful cave effect) — or to a wall to create beautiful, window-like light when the camera is turned vertically.
Remember… think and shoot like a photojournalist. Anticipate action before it occurs. Make sure there is enough light to record it crisply. Control the flash indoors so that all the people in your family story are well lit. And keep shooting until you are sure you have caught the perfect moment in every small story that unfolds in your family and among your friends.
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