Tuesday, April 12, 2011

How to Photograph your Baby

Here is the post I promised about How to Photograph your baby!!

Actually, it's kind of like a book review, but with personal touches.
What happened is I read the book "How to Photograph your Baby" and loved it SO much I thought I would share what I have been learning from it.

Nick Kelsh makes baby photography seem so easy.  If you want a really great book on it, I would highly recommend this one!

Here's what I'm going to do.  In the next however long it takes, I am going to share ONE tip each post/day that you can put to practice in your photography.  And if you don't have a baby, I'm sure these tips will be just as useful to you! 

So here's tip number one...
         GET CLOSER
Yeah, that's what I thought...well, that's easy enough!! 
It is, but most of us don't do it.  Here's an example of what we usually do. (And please excuse the messy room!) lol




 And here is an example of how we SHOULD be taking the same picture...



Getting CLOSER minimizes the clutter in the picture and focuses on the subject instead of the background.  
Getting closer is what separates the amateurs from the pros!  (at least that's what the book said, though I know there is WAY more to it than that! )

So I've started taking this advice and am SO elated over the results!!  I know I am NOT professional by any means, but using this tip has improved my pictures at least 100% from what they were before.  And I'm excited about it!!!  Here are some examples of what I've come up with when I get CLOSER!










And sometimes when you get even CLOSER, it is even more fun!




Cool huh?  Getting closer makes you feel like you can feel what's in the picture.  It makes it seem much more personal and special.  I just LOVE it!

So here's what I want you to do:  Take YOUR cameras and try adding this tip to ten pictures that you take and see if it doesn't make a difference!!!  Then go and compare those pictures with some you have taken in the past.  You won't believe the difference this ONE tip makes!  And even if you don't HAVE babies or don't WANT to take pictures of babies or children, this tip will still work for making ANY pictures look a lot like the professional photos you see out there.  Have fun experimenting!!  And please make sure to come back and share your results with me!  Stay tuned for tip #2. :)


10 comments:

Anne said...

Beautiful pics! I always gravitate towards the close ups. I am looking for a new camera. Any suggestions? My last was a panasonic LUMIX FH20 but I dropped it (after getting upset with my daughter for dropping our previous camera!). The pic of your daughter in the white coat/and hat at Christmas is gorgeous!
Anne

Sara said...

I have a DSLR Rebel T1i and just LOVE it!!! It is a great camera for if you aren't pro but want to improve and have some nice pics of everyday life...I also have Lightroom editing program which is a nice addition to having the camera!! My sister got Ally that coat and hat combo...I just love it! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Jill@JunkyVagabond said...

Great tip and it does make a difference. I'll be watching for more tips as my photos need HELP! My 'baby' is 6'3" and 25 years old now, but photography is photography and all tips are welcome.

Oh, and if you don't get the close up the first time round, I've found that cropping the photo is almost as good.

C said...

Beautiful photographs

Bec@littlelucylu said...

Awesome, Sara! I LOVE this! Maybe I'll be able to learn something from YOU - since I am such a slacker in the photography class I'm actually PAYING to take! haha :)~ (good thing it's online and I have all the material so I can get to it ... SOMEday!:-)

Bec@littlelucylu said...

Oh - and to Anne and anyone else who might be in the market for a new camera ... I have the Nikon D3100, and I LOVE IT.
:-)
~Bec

Sara said...

Bec, I would love to know more about the Nikon...I wasn't sure which one to get when I was looking...so I went with one that my friend recommended which was the Canon...

Naomi said...

Fabulous skillz you have. I love photography, and am always looking for better ways to enhance my own ability. Thank you for sharing, beautiful family btw! :)

A Hootie Hoot said...

Thanks for all the great tips! Beautiful pictures. I usually end up cropping my photos after the fact to get the shots I want. Guess I shouldn't be so afraid of the zoom feature on my camera! : )

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Following you now!

Marie said...

One of my first photography instructors used to tell us, "you're paying for the film, you ought to use all of it." Moving in closer is definitely great for portraits. Better to shoot them close then crop later--the quality is so much better that way.

You're off to a good start. Photography is a very rewarding and fun hobby.

Just stopping by from the BlogFrog.

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