C'ville Entremom

As the Holiday season approaches, my photography business goes into full swing as families begin to call for both family pictures and Holiday Cards.  I have to say I’ve spent countless hours lately looking for the perfect Holiday Cards to offer my clients… believe me.. it’s an overwhelming experience.  I’m also finding more and more that with the price of digital SLR cameras as low as they are now (You can get an entry level DSLR for under $500 – WOW), clients and friends are opting to take their own Christmas pictures.  Anyway, I thought that this week, I would share some tips with you to take better pictures this Holiday Season.  Just and FYI, I am gearing this towards those of you with a DSLR, but if you don’t have one, the same principles apply to point and shoot cameras.

Get your subject out from the middle of the picture. You will often notice in the pictures that I take a child is off to the left or right of the picture or if it is a headshot/portrait the subject’s face will take up most of the picture.  Make sure that your eyes are drawn to the focal point of your subject.. for me that is always eyes.

Avoid Full Sunlight. Full sun creates really harsh shadows & what I like to refer to as “raccoon eyes.”  Find a spot with open shade or take your pictures and hour before sunset.  Another option (and my personal favorite) is to take your pictures on a cloudy day!

Forget the flash. Although I sometimes use it.. I loathe flash!  Find a nice spot by a window and use that to light your subject.  If you have a speedlight, don’t aim it directly at your subject.. bounce off the ceiling, a window, bounce card or use a diffuser.

Check out the background. Is there clutter or garbage?   Find a new location.  Another option is to zoom in on your subject so that the background doesn’t matter as much.  The best idea.. go take pictures this weekend w/beautiful leaves as a backdrop.

Don’t always pose or ask your subject to smile. Kids are kids and they don’t like to take time out to stop and smile.  Create memories of what they are really like on a day to day basis.  Enjoy the moments of them just being them.  Also, if they have a favorite toy, incorporate that into your picture.

Learn Photoshop. Seriously.. it’s a must.

Angie Brement is a portrait photographer and owner of Angie Brement Photography.  She is also the founder of C’Ville Entremom. If you would like to find out more about Angie Brement Photography please visit her website:  www.angiebrementphotography.com.

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post 

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Guest Columns, Local Resources, Local artists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.