I’m so excited to be hosting Candace Moss today, owner and creator of Mom and Pop Photo School. As a photography instructor and also a mom, Candace knows what it takes to get the perfect photos of your kids. But after years of experience, she also knows that not every photo will be perfect, and as moms, we tend to hold ourselves to an awfully high standard!
In this post, she gives us all some simple tips on how to love the shots we get (even the terrible ones) and how to work toward getting some better portraits of our families. Try and use these suggestions this week in some of your Capture the Little Moments photos!
Snapshots vs. Portraits
I like to put family photos into two fuzzy categories: snapshots and portraits. A snapshot is a quick (potentially ugly) picture that captures what’s happening at the moment and is good for jogging your memory later on. A portrait is a well-executed photo that expresses the spirit of the subject in a beautiful, intimate way. It’s a fuzzy distinction, because somewhere among the ugly snapshots and amazing portraits are lots of wonderful shots that are a little dark or don’t have the best composition, but they are intimate or fun shots of precious moments. These “imperfect” portraits are the ones that tend to become family favorites.
As a photography instructor, I hear from lots of parents who want to start taking the perfect portraits ASAP. They want to learn all the technical stuff up front, so that their photos will be perfectly exposed, tack-sharp, and always with a blurred background. Eek! If I held my family photos to that standard, I’d be constantly disappointed, plus I’d be missing out on the beautifully messy moments of parenthood.
Even though I’m a professional photographer, my family photos are STILL 60% snapshots, at least. After many years of being too hard on myself (and my poor guinea pig children) I finally made peace with my collection of mostly snapshots, with some special portraits thrown in the mix. It’s given me so much happiness that I’d like to put it into a three-step process, in the hope that some of you will have it easier than I did.
The first trick is making peace with the photos you already have (and the ones you’ll take in the future).
Suggestion #1: Chill out about getting “perfect” pictures, and give your virtual shoebox of snapshots a big fat hug.
A healthy collection of authentic family photos will include blurry photos, dark photos, photos of glaringly grumpy children, photos of a kid with his finger up his nose, yellowish photos, photos from so far away you can barely see the precious subject (typically at a soccer game). And if you’re really lucky, you have some shots that would qualify for the Awkward Family Photos anthology.
After you’ve made peace with your snapshot collection you’ll have a happy heart, plus the brain space to start learning a couple of basic but super helpful things.
Suggestion #2: Get your subjects out of the sun!
I know, it sounds crazy. The sun is where the light is, right? It looks so pretty compared to the shade. But it’s not pretty. Not when your subject is standing there squinting, with harsh black shadows under his eyes, nose, and chin. Trying to take a nice picture of a person in the sun is like attempting a double sow-cow your first time on the ice. The thing can be done, but it’s probably not the best way to get started.
Here’s an example of a picture taken in the sun, before we moved the subject backward 4 feet to the tables under the covered walkway.
Your best spots for taking pictures of your kids have solid overhead cover, to block all the direct sunlight. Covered patios, pavilions, even awnings in shopping areas will give you solid overhead cover. Ideally you find solid overhead with a medium-to-dark background, so your subject will show up nicely (bright spots in the background make your camera’s metering system go wonky).
Here’s a shot of the same subject under the covered walkway and close-up, so there’s less of a distracting background.
What a difference, right?!
If you are hoping to gradually improve your family photos, I think it’s best to start with the skills that make the most difference, and getting out of the sun and into the open shade is at the top of the list!
Candace Moss is the creator of Mom and Pop Photo School, an online resource for parents (and teens and grandparents) who want to learn simple yet effective ways to improve their family photography. Self-paced 101 courses include a PDF full of color photo examples and illustrations, as well as a year of online support in The Lab. For more info, visit www.momandpopphoto.com
