My greatest hope as you embark on this journey to photograph your children is that you find passion in what you are doing. When you begin to capture images that are true reflections of your children’s natures, I know that you will begin to feel that excitement, and it will stimulate you to branch out creatively. In this chapter, we will discuss the basics of composition—how to compose beautiful portraits and what factors you should keep in mind to create aesthetically pleasing images. But we will also push that proverbial envelope a bit. We will discuss the difference between more candid and more consciously composed shots. As much as I want you to practice photographing your children in their natural environment and as spontaneously as possible, I would love for you to find equal joy in setting the scenes for your photographs. There is nothing false or contrived if you create settings that your children love being part of. As you let your imagination run with ideas, remember that if your children are enjoying themselves—if you are having fun—you’re not just creating a more interesting composition and setting. The act of creating becomes a joyful moment in itself in your life together, not simply a stage. This is an important step in developing your own style as a photographer. It is something that will naturally evolve over time.
The rules of composition are universal across artistic mediums. But we should begin with what composition is. In a photograph or a painting, composition refers to the arrangement of objects or subjects within the image. Are the objects within the frame well balanced? Does your eye move throughout the image easily? Did the artist use color, texture, and shape to unify the image overall? All of these factor into the success of a composition. Let’s begin with the most commonly used tools in portrait photography.
The rule of thirds simply divides your composition into three equal sections both vertically and horizontally, as figure 7 illustrates. The idea is that placing your subject on one of those lines, as opposed to between them, produces a more interesting image. You will learn to see this grid in your mind’s eye when you look through the viewfinder. After a while, you’ll find that you naturally begin placing your subject on the imaginary lines. However, the entire subject, say your daughter, does not have to be fully aligned with that line. The focal point of your shot is likely her face, so make sure the focal point is what is intersecting the line. But what’s more fun than following rules? Breaking them. The photo to the left shows why. Placing the girl in the middle of the frame emphasizes her powerful expression and stance. The authority trumps the rule of thirds. In short, if the subject is strong enough, centering your child in the frame can work beautifully as well.
fig. 7
fig. 8
fig. 9
When cropping images, either in the frame of your camera or when post-processing, it is important to remember not to crop at the limbs. Figure 8 shows awkward cropping; if you see this while shooting, either step back to ensure you capture more of your child within the frame, or, as shown in figure 9, ask your child to reposition her arms so they are inside your original crop.
Identifying balance within a composition will come naturally the more you see it expressed. Balance works with the rule of thirds. Placing your child on one of the imaginary lines may result in too much negative space. You can use other objects to balance your child within the frame, strengthening the overall composition. But my favorite adage applies here: rules are meant to be broken. I encourage you to push the boundaries of this rule and see if you are pleased with the results.
Visual interest is an important part of a successful photograph. Color can easily overwhelm a photograph, and I encourage you to be observant of your surroundings when you shoot. Brightly colored items in the background can really pop right off the photograph and steal the show. If you want to pay particular attention to color (in terms of clothing, props, and backgrounds), be mindful of the color wheel (figure 10). The primary colors, red, blue, and yellow, cannot be made by adding or mixing any other colors. Secondary colors fall between the primary colors, and tertiary colors fall between primary and secondary. If you study the hues on the color wheel, you will begin to see what colors seem naturally drawn to be paired. Start by choosing a color, and then drag your finger directly to the opposite side of the wheel. That is your original color’s complementary color. You know what they say? Opposites attract!
fig. 10
Texture can also add visual interest. Whether it be the wales in the corduroy overalls your son is wearing or your daughter’s raven curls, look for texture when you are photographing your child and challenge yourself to incorporate it into your compositions. Look for shapes as well. Shapes can be especially effective when repeated.
We devoted a whole chapter to understanding light and using it well in your photographs. But there are other ways to wrangle that magic gold. Light can be used as a compositional element in several ways. Reflections and silhouettes are the most common ways of doing this. Look for reflections not only in mirrors, but also in water and most shiny objects. Children love to hold shiny things and see their own faces peering back up at them.
Creating silhouettes is much like creating flare. It’s about your own placement in relation to your light source and your subject. By placing your subject in front of a light source (with enough illumination still shining behind her), you can create this look easily. Watch what your light meter tells you and try a few frames. You may have to underexpose the shot to achieve the overall look you want. Look for Irene Nam’s portrait of her son in chapter six for some truly beautiful examples of this look. A third factor to consider is mood. Light can alter the mood of a photograph significantly, and its presence or absence can be the building block of a great composition.
A universal truth about children: if they are given the space to run and have the ability to do so, they’ll run until their lungs ache. Just because your child is moving does not mean you need to put away the camera. There will be instances where the light is too low and it’s nearly impossible to capture their movements, but there really is a way around everything, and in the case of movement, it’s all about shutter speed.
Are you experimenting with shooting manually yet? I hope so! When photographing children who are moving, you will have greater control of the final image if you shoot manually. There are two things I invite you to try here. The first is to slow down your shutter speed to create motion blur. This beautiful artistic tool creates a photograph that is more an impression than reality (think of impressionistic paintings). Figure 11 was shot with a slower shutter speed, allowing the child to move through the frame while the shutter was still open.
The second thing to try is to speed up your shutter. By balancing your f-stop and ISO with a fast shutter speed, you will be able to create your child’s moving form quite realistically, as figure 12 shows.
fig. 11
fig. 12
The more you shoot, the more you will see a cohesive style in how you shoot emerge. While it’s important to explore the work of photographers you admire, it’s much more important for you to create your own way of doing things—a signature, if you will. It may be your use of light, the emotion and mood of your photos, or perhaps your use of color. Whatever it is, ensure that it comes 100 percent from your own heart.
When we discuss composition, we have the rules that we’ve talked about on the previous pages, but style is equally important. Think of the composition rules as the model and the style as the clothes: you need both to truly communicate your idea. Let’s talk about how and what to shoot . . .
By Jennifer Way
There are two popular ways of photographing children. Documentary photography is just what it sounds like—you are documenting your subject. This style, also called photo-journalistic, has become a buzz word not only among children’s photographers, but with wedding and lifestyle photographers as well. Capturing people and events as they are, not as we wish them to be, is thought to have the lasting beauty of realism. Editorial photography, on the other hand, has a preconceived notion about it. A stage has been set, if you will, and you are there to capture the players.
Both are effective ways of photographing, and I would like to encourage you to explore both. Think of taking your camera into your child’s room as you wake him from a nap. The late afternoon sun is streaming through the window and dancing on your son’s curls. Photographing that sweet moment as his fist gingerly comes to his eyes and his body coils and stretches his limbs—it’s a beautiful moment to behold, and one as natural as can be. Be observant of these little moments and document them when you can. You will soon have a feel for what you enjoy photographing and what moments you are comfortable with letting slip by quietly.
Creating a more staged environment can be fun as well. If you and your children are enjoying the moment, I see it less as contrived or staged, and more as creating another world, more stories, more beauty for your children to explore. Your children really have to be on board with this idea, so the more interesting the story you create to shoot is, the more likely they are to play along. My daughters, like most young ladies, adore a good tea party. On this particular occasion, we took the party outside, brought out books and drawing materials, berry tarts and lemonade, and just let them be (page 73). Give them the tools and they will create their own stories, and you can quietly observe the magic unfold before you.
» Backyard and living room forts—overflowing with blankets and pillows
» Little picnics
» A scavenger hunt
» A backyard teepee filled with their favorite things
» A day on a local farm
» A painting party. Dress your little ones in big white tees, put some canvas out in the grass, and let them go for it!
» An easy photobooth made from a sheet or large tablecloth hung between two trees with a trunk of dress-up clothes, hats, and accessories.
» An ice cream bar with self-serve toppings.
» If you’re brave enough, prep everything for your kids to make cookies or cake.
» A casual spa day with girlfriends for an older daughter.
» One word: sprinklers.
» Ask your children what THEY would like to do or pretend. You may be amazed with the ideas they come up with.
Childhood is a beautiful sequence of stories to be told and tales waiting to unfold. As both the parent and the photographer, you will likely be able to look back on the photographs you take over a given year and remember where you were, even perhaps how you felt in that moment. But others may not. If you hope to share your photographs with others either online or as gift books for grandparents, the visual impact can be so much greater if you attempt to tell stories.
Every photograph is a story, real memories to those involved or impressions to casual observers. But when photographs are sequenced, they can help create a more cohesive story. Years from now they will help you recall these events with clarity. Some ideas:
» Try sequence shooting. When photographing your child doing something, take a shot every 10 seconds or so. This seems an obvious way to let a story unfold, but looking back on these photographs will be so much fun.
» Don’t forget the details. Photographing children is not just about their sweet faces. It’s also their beautiful, delicate hands, those sweet toes, their bellies. Non-facial shots are important in the story-telling process as well. If you’ve been a parent for some time, you know how fleeting these moments are. The children grow so fast, and you’ll be grateful to be able to look back on these photographs and recall the perfect details.
» Additional details can be captured as well: their favorite toys and books or favorite corner of a room. All of these elements help tell a story about your children’s lives.
» If you decide to create a book of photographs (as we will discuss in detail in chapter seven) try organizing them chronologically or by season to tell a story for a given year.
Creating these stories should be authentic, and it should always reflect your child’s true and unique personality. No one knows your child better than you do, what makes her happy or sad, what she loves, and what she loathes. As parents, we are naturally wired not only to make these behavioral observations about our children, but to act upon them to meet their needs. We nurture the wonderment of it all. You are a natural observer as a parent. Work to translate this skill into your photographs. That smirk she gets when she’s getting her way—you never want to forget that; the wide eyes as he learns to read a new word—keep your camera handy.
By Irene Nam
Some of you may be asking: do we really photograph everything? The answer is so personal—you take pictures of what you are comfortable photographing. When I first started to take photos of my own children, I joined Flickr and became involved in some of the children’s photography forums. Occasionally, I would come across pictures of children crying or in the midst of a tantrum. At the time, I was horrified. As a new mother, I could not understand what would possess someone to pick up a camera rather than the crying child at that moment. In a way, I still feel this way. But of course, tears and tantrums are the reality of childhood as well. You need to decide for yourself what you are comfortable with and what you are not.
The image to the right is one of the rare times I have photographed one of my children crying. We had just moved to North Carolina from Brooklyn, and we were waiting for the bus to take the girls to their first day of school. Adie, my eldest, was sick with worry, and I had been trying to soothe her frayed nerves all morning, but she could not keep her tears at bay. Conversely, her little sister was so excited and could not understand why Adie was carrying on so much. I photographed them like this just before the bus arrived because I was not going to get them both smiling, this much I knew. But in retrospect, it’s one of my favorite photographs because of the authenticity and raw emotion involved. Tears stand in my eyes every time I see this photo, and they likely always will.
You’ve learned in this chapter that creating beautiful compositions is not only about the “rules” of composition, but the emotion as well. It is your opportunity to create a visual story and capture small moments of time that will stand as testaments to your children’s youth. Exploring the means of creating beautiful and unique compositions also allows you to discover yourself as an artist and create your own style of shooting, one that exhibits your confidence and results in gorgeous imagery.
