You’ll be pleased to hear that I am feeling much more human than I did when I wrote my last post! Harrison has started sleeping properly again and Sam is only waking once or twice during the night so I am now able to function during the day!
The last post was all about finding the right light which is the first thing to think about before taking photos. The next consideration needs to be about the background.
Many parents find some beautiful flowers or a nice building, stick their kids in front of it and point and shoot. Before doing this, think about what the photo is of…..the building or your child?
If you want the image to be of the building, then just take it of the building. If you want it to be of your child, then find an interesting but un-fussy background to shoot in front of.
You want the image to be of your child’s gorgeous face, not the toys behind her! A clean background vs a messy one can make the difference between a snapshot and a portrait. So if you are taking photos in the house or garden it is definitely worth spending a few minutes ensuring there is nothing distracting in the background.
The image below is from a shoot I did in Bushy Park. Anyone familiar with the park will know that there are many beautiful flowers and trees there. However I chose to do a section of the shoot in front of a big gate at the entrance to the park as it provided a gorgeous textured, but un-fussy background. Therefore ensuring the focus of the shot is on the children’s faces. The colour of the mossy gate also compliments the boys jumper perfectly.
And this shot was taken in my client’s garden but I led the girl in front of the wheelie bin instead of the flowers! The green colour makes a lovely backdrop to this gorgeous girl and we wouldn’t want to detract from an expression like that!
So a quick recap on achieving the perfect backgrounds to your images:
– Before you shoot, think about what the photo is actually of
– It’s worth spending a few minutes clearing away any mess in the background before you shoot
– Avoid really fussy backgrounds and instead lead your children to lovely textured backdrops
– Don’t be afraid to use wheelie bins or peeling walls – these can make beautiful backgrounds for your photos!
I hope you found this tip useful. Please tell your friends about it if you did!
Next week will be about getting the right angles and composition and then the following week will be all about Apps you can buy for your i-Phone for some fab effects. So please keep checking back for more tips.
Let’s hope the sunshine comes back soon….although we can’t complain as we’ve had 6 weeks of blissful weather, I am hoping that wasn’t our whole summer!
Vicki x
