Creative Family Photography Tips

Most people wait for special occassions to get their cameras out. But having a digital camera gives you the freedom to take more photos and experiment a little with your everyday photos.

Family snappers tend to stick to the Auto setting on their cameras. This may be appropriate if you’re photographing a special event and want to avoid mistakes, but if you’re able to experiment, try operating your camera in Manual mode. By becoming familiar with how the shutter speed and aperture work together, you can teach yourself the basics of photography and see some serious improvement! Once you’ve become comfortable in this domain you can take things a step further and become more creative.

F Stops

F-Stops are how you measure the size of your aperture. F2.8 is a fairly large hole. F22 is quite a small hole. Some cameras won’t go as large as f2.8 or as small as f22. These sizes will depend on the lens used.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the time allowed for the light to pass through the aperture. It’s usually measured in fractions of a second, but some cameras will let you leave the shutter open for hours! Shutter speed and f-stop work together. The size of the aperture (or f-stop) will determine the shutter speed, and vice-versa.

Low light

Working on low light is an opportunity to achieve real, “flash-free” photos. Be careful of slow shutter speeds (those that are longer than 1/60th of a second), unless you have a camera with anti-shake. Be aware of how much light is on your subject, and if required move them closer to a skylight or window, or under a streetlight if outdoors. I often use reflectors to light the shadow side of a face, too. What’s a reflector ? Anything that’s white, silver or even gold, that can reflect a little light back into the picture. It might be a sheet, a tea towel, or a large piece of cardboard - anything.

Movement

Capturing movement can be both exhilirating and frustrating. Not every shot will work, so you’ll need persistence and so will your subject, as they may need to repeat a movement several times. Low light is ideal, as you’ll need to slow the shutter speed down long enough to capture movement without overexposing the photo. A tripod might be necessary.

Slow the shutter to _ or maybe even one second, and then adjust the aperture to allow enough light so that the shot isn’t overexposed. It generally involves a bit of trial and error, and the settings may change, depending on how much natural light there is.

Rear sync or slow flash

Your camera may have a “rear” or “slow” setting for flash. This is a great tool for fun flash photos. Using this, it’s possible to slow the shutter speed right down to, say , a half to one second or so. Then as the shuter closes the flash fires, and whatever is reasonably close to the camera gets illuminated and remains as a sharp object. Using this flash setting, it’s possible to pick up a lot more natural light in a darker setting. It may blur a little, but your subjects in the foreground will be relatively sharp. It’s an interesting effect, which also may require persistence. Not every shot will be a winner.

Being creative with your photography is about experimenting, trying new techniques and exploring new ways of capturing images. Even using interesting locations like train stations, subways, and gratified walls can be enough to inspire you. Photography should always be a creative process - no matter what you’re taking pictures of. Don’t settle for less!

Source : Getting creative with your family photographs