I've always been interested in photography (and documenting my kids' lives as they grow) but can't figure how to take decent pictures. Are there any secrets I should know?
Miriam T. emailed us at expert@sweetspot.ca, and professional photographer Negin Sairafi answered;
Composition: This can truly make or break your images. You don’t have to have a fancy camera to take well-composed pictures. Read up on the Rule of Thirds and try placing your subjects on the outskirts of your grid rather than directly in the center. Beware of busy backgrounds that could take away from a great foreground (i.e. your adorable baby). Try filling the frame with your subject rather than showing too much of what’s going on around them.
Fun vs. Posing: Asking your kids to sit still for a picture might work on occasion, but it fails to capture their spirit and personality. Let kids be kids, follow them if you must; make taking pictures into something fun. Before you know it, you’ll be telling the story of your family with your photos, rather than just documenting how your kids look at a certain point in time.
Capturing & Creating Moments: Most great moments happen organically, however the older your kids get (and more aware they become of a camera), the harder it will be to photograph them naturally. When you have to create a moment, get involved with them, keep the camera nearby and snap the picture when they’re completely unaware.
Leap of Faith: Switching from automatic to manual mode on your camera can be a scary thing. Open up the little book that came with your camera, Google a few photography tutorials and you’re on your way to capturing better photos because you’ve just taken control of your camera settings. It may be a little confusing at first, but with practice you will get the hang of things and swear off automatic mode forever.
Quality over Quantity: It’s easy to take hundreds of pictures with a digital camera, but being able to take countless pictures is a luxury that should not be misused. Try focusing on taking better quality images rather than snapping away and hoping a few of them turn out. When you upload them to your computer, make sure to only keep the great ones and delete the rest.
Negin Sairafi is a Toronto-based portrait photographer specializing in maternity, baby, child and family portraits. Negin focuses on candid, documentary style portraiture that captures the love and spirit of families.
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