Welcome back to True Life! With this twice-monthly series, I’ll be posting helpful tips on taking better pictures of your kids, learning to use your camera, fun ways to display family photos, custom photo gifts, etc.
Photography is all about light. And when you start learning to control the lighting in your family snapshots, you’ll see a marked improvement in your photos. Promise!
Today I want to show you one of the most common mistake I see in family photos…
Full sun coming in from the side of your subject’s face causes uneven lighting and shadowing, and even on a little girl this cute, it’s just not flattering. Do you see how the light isn’t reaching her eyes, making them look flat and lifeless?
So what to do? Move around until you see even lighting across your child’s face. But watch out for Squinty-face! Poor Claire can’t even look at me because the sunshine behind me is just too harsh.
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If I turn around in the other direction, Claire’s back is towards the direct sunlight, giving me open eyes and even light across her face. In this photo, I used a reflector to bounce light back into her face, which you can see in the round catch-lights in her eyes. (Quick tip: if you do not have a reflector, you can use a white piece of foam board to fill in the light!)
Back-lighting can be pretty tricky to master, especially if you’re shooting in Auto mode, but I love it. If you’re going to attempt back-lighting, make sure you’re shooting early or late in the day when the sun is lower in the sky. If the sun is sitting overhead, your best bet may to head for the shade.
Want to learn more? Or even just get a basic understanding of how to use your DSLR camera? Join me for Be True Everyday, a class for beginner DSLR users, and start capturing better photos of your kids. This will be our LAST workshop of the year, and there are only 7 spots remaining!
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