Today’s Post by Joe Farace
One of my friend Rick Sammon’s favorite expressions is that “the name of the game is fill the frame” and that’s good advice, especially when shooting with entry level digital DSLRs that may only have a few autofocus points. And that’s doubly true when making photographs of children.
When looking at portraits we want to see their faces, not their shoelaces, so be sure to get down on your subject’s level to shoot at them not down on them.
You’ll get better portraits and your small subjects will relate to you better when you get down on their level to make photographs. That’s means you may have to sit on the grass or get down on the ground so be sure to wear your grungies when making this kind of portrait.
This portrait of two pals and their dog at right was made by Mary Farace on one of the girl’s front lawns with Mary lying on her stomach to get the shot. This puts the camera on their level and also helps minimize background clutter. The camera’s built-in flash was used to add some sparkle, fill in shadows, and make the kids “pop” out from the background.
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pick up Rick Sammon’s book Creative Visualization for Photographers from Amazon for $34.77 with used copies starting at $29 as I write this. A Kindle copy is $28.24 for this preferring a digital format.