Photo lesson #2 / Ottawa family photographer

Hi again,

I would like to thank you all for your positive feedback with my last assignment.  I hope you had fun trying the tips out and ended up with some photos you will cherish.

Before I start on my next lesson, here’s another example of why you should watch what is in your background.  Here’s a picture I took at my 16th Birthday party…notice anything strange?  Poor Karen looks like she needs a haircut!  My friends and I still laugh about this photo. ( See the girl with the white sweatshirt?  That’s Janet, my model from my last post…doesn’t it look like she’s having the time of her life? :))

Today i’m going to talk about getting better pictures of children with one easy tip.  Get down on their level.  Instead of standing in front of them, make yourself at eye level with them and take the picture (i.e. have the camera at your subject’s eye level).  I love the connection between the subject and the camera at this level…it creates a really personal feeling and eyes really pop!

For example, here is a photo I took of my kids and niece and nephew.  As you can see from the camera angle, i’m standing above them.  I think this photo is a lot of fun and I love that my nephew is trying to escape but….

Notice what happens with I get down to their eye level (after I get their attention by putting my lens cap in my eye and saying ARRR, i’m a pirate :))

You really notice all those beautiful eyes and smiles!

Kids are much shorter than us so don’t be afraid to get down on your hands and knees…

or even lay on the floor with them…

They don’t have to be looking at the camera or even have their eyes in the picture.  For the next photo, I brought the camera down to my son’s hand level to show him building one of his lego sets…I think it tells a great story.

Just have fun with your kids at their level and you’ll get some amazing photographs!   This tip works great on other subjects as well, check out these crocuses:

Hope you enjoyed this lesson!  I would love to see what you come up with so feel to send me an email at michelle@barbeau.net.  I’ll showcase a few of my favourites in my next post.

Happy Shooting!
Michelle
Ottawa Photographer specializing in Family, Teen & Business Portraiture