Welp…I’m stating the obvious here when I say Easter looks quite different this year. Church from the coziness of our living rooms and couches just as your own family units. It’s all so surreal isn’t it. Hopefully it will be over soon enough and not something we ever have to get used to.
But non the less…we have to do what we have to do, and because this is something that someday will be written about in the history books and our grandkids will be studying, so we most definitely should document it. In doing so, I wanted to just hop on here quickly and give some tips and tricks to talk thru do’s and don’ts of basic photo taking so you can have some sweet photos of your families during this time.
Dress up, like you usually want to, or not, I think there is no right or wrong to this! I also challenge you to use these tips and post them so I can see your fabulous job. Use the hashtag #fabulouseasterphotos
Alright….here we go…
- When taking a “formal” family photo make sure you turn your camera vertical, or your phone. Vertical is always better for photos of people. It lengthens and is more flattering.
- Get the full body. Do not cut anything off. You can always move in and crop from the waste up if you want, but always start with the full body.
- DO NOT cut off feet. GET THE FEET. I feel like this happens all too often and I just cringe at the sight.
- Set your camera or phone to multiple exposures in a row and have fun with all those frames. Do something different with each of them, so you have options.
- Rule of thirds. Place yall as a family unit slightly towards the bottom of the photo or slightly more towards the top…you don’t want too much sky or too much ground. Just a slight offset of the main subjects in the center….SLIGHT.
- When taking more documentary style photos or lifestyle, seems to be the hot term these days, you can definitely turn the camera back to horizontal, but the rules of thirds applies still, as well as getting the whole body, or cropping way in to just get the faces.
Next couple of tips have to do with lighting:
- If you can be picky, and these days we can because we have all the time in the world to take photos….I would suggest sunset or just before….or if you family is early risers (aka…you have littles) you can most definitely do sunrise.
- If you’re lucky enough to have clouds…then any time of the day works! So hop out into your backyard and have a blast.
- If you need to do the middle of the day and it’s super sunny, then look for even shade. An overhang or behind a garage or front porch works great!
- If it’s raining, or too hot or too cold and you need to stay inside, all you need to do is find a good window!
And finally posing:
- The most common tip I give (even have to remind myself of this over and over again) “CHIN DOWN”. Ladies, especially always think that you’re supposed to stick your chin out to get rid of that all dreaded double chin…but in fact making sure you chin is relaxed and down actually works much better, looks more natural AND makes you stand up or sit up straighter as a result.
- The photo should be taken straight on. No need to shoot from up high, unless you are going for the action cropped in shot like one of the top black n white images…but shoot straight on. You want your body to look like it is supposed to look, not short legged or “skinnier” so they think.
- Turn just ever so slightly to one side. Nothing dramatic…just a slight turn will create an illusion of “skinny”
- Honestly be yourself…stop with the hand on hip or leg out or all to perfectly posed position. Smile big, let your eyes disappear from laughter. Show your wrinkles. Or those arms you think look fat because you are wrapping your arms around your loved ones so tightly. Don’t stress over perfection…enjoy the moment. Because no matter where, no matter when you always look back at a photo and remember the moments behind that image. Some of the most beautifully “perfect” photos had some of the most stress to create them…and no one wants to remember that.
So happy Easter everyone. I hope these tips and tricks helped. I hope you’ll use the hashtag and show me what you created. But most importantly, I hope this got your excited to make some memories and document them well.
