As I am now on maternity leave and therefore won’t have any sneak peaks to show for a while, I thought I would give something back to you, my lovely readers. I want to make sure that you take some gorgeous photos of your kids over the summer holidays. Much more than your average snapshot.
So over the next 5 weeks I’m going to be giving you one tip a week to help you capture some great photos of your children.
Don’t worry, these aren’t going to be too technical. This isn’t the place to bore you with apertures and shutter speeds. No, these will be tips that you can use immediately to improve your photography, whether you have an expensive digital SLR or you just point and shoot with your iPhone.
This week’s tip is about finding the right light. If you don’t have decent light you don’t have a decent photo so it’s a good place to start! Photography is all about light. Literally.
The word itself means writing (graphy) with light (photo). You might thank me for that nugget of information one day when you’re sat in a pub quiz!
Do you normally get your camera out on a bright, sunny day when the kids are having fun outside then are disappointed with the photos afterwards? Well I’m about to tell you why. This is the WORST kind of light to photograph in. Bright sunshine creates nasty shadows under your childrens’ lovely features and makes them squint horribly too. Not a good combination!
The best kind of weather to photograph in is an overcast day that produces a wonderful diffused light that is very flattering at all angles. On days like this you can shoot anywhere without worrying about finding the perfect light. Ideal.
If you do want to get your camera out and it’s one of those bright sunny days I was talking about then it’s no problem. Just make sure you take your kids to some good light before you start shooting. And when I say good light I mean in the shade! So take them under a big tree, in an outside building or any other cover you can find. Believe me, your photos will look so much better.
Or photograph in the first or last hour of sunlight. These are known in the photography world as the ‘golden hours’. The sun is lower in the sky at these times and the light is beautiful….this is one of my favourite photos and was taken just before the sun set.
These photos below were taken on those wonderful overcast days which are perfect for shooting.
And these were taken on really sunny days but I led the children to the some shade to get the best light.
So a quick recap on how to find the best light:
– Don’t photograph your kids in direct sunshine. It’s very unflattering.
– Take them to some open shade. Under a big tree is ideal.
– Get your camera out in the first or last hours of sunlight. The ‘golden hours’.
– Take advantage of lovely overcast days and snap away like mad!
I hope this tip has been useful to you. If it has, please tell everyone you know about it and please keep checking back for more tips over the next month.
Vicki x
