How to Better Photograph Your Children | Tip 6

This is the sixth in an eight-part series that will post each week through May. This series was created by me, Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo, for the amateur family photographer. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, not images taken with high end cameras, complicated techniques nor studio lighting. These are images that ANYONE can take, many of them shot with a point and shoot camera.

TIP 6: NATURAL LIGHT

Professional photographers spend years learning how to work with light. The goal is to make their artificial light look like beautiful, Rembrandt-style, natural light. But why spend all that time learning how to modify light when the real thing is right in front of you? I am going to show three examples of using natural light versus the on-camera flash. For those of you using a point and shoot, you may have to consult your camera manual to learn how to turn the automatic flash off, when you so choose. Also, in darker situations, it would be nice to know how to turn your ISO up a bit, maybe to 800 if you can.

My first example is shooting indoors at night. Roman’s birthday is right before Christmas and Leo’s is right after, so the holidays are really big for us. It is right before bed and Roman is playing with his new train that he received as a birthday present from his Grandma and Grandpa Oguntoyinbo. First I photograph him using the on-camera flash. This photo is fine for capturing the action but it is rather bland.

In this second version I turned the flash off. I think that this image captures the scene much better- a quiet, dark room with the beautiful, twinkly Christmas lights. The only caveat with using no flash indoors is if you inadvertently shake camera the image will be blurry. In this case, I was down laying on my stomach on the floor. I put my elbows on the floor and used my body as a tripod so that the camera did not shake.

Next we are indoors but during the day this time. Most point and shoot cameras automatically turn on the flash when you are indoors. Often there is plenty of good light indoors to use. At least it is worth a try! In the first example the automatic flash came on. This illuminates the subjects closest to the flash but almost always renders the background very dark. In this case my background is ugly and messy, (see Tip 4) so maybe that was a small blessing, but normally I would like to see what is going on in the perimeter as it adds detail and information to your image.

In the image below I tried again. I used a plain background and had the girls close to a large window with the flash off. I think this works much better!

Finally, we are outside in front of a bonfire. First I let the on-camera flash do it’s thing. Again, this is not a horrible photo but the second photo with the flash off captures the mood of the evening much better, don’t you think?


Did you miss the fifth tip? Click HERE to read it. You can also read all of the tips on our FACEBOOK or TWITTER page.

How to Better Photograph Your Children | Tip 5

This is the fifth part in an eight-part series that will post each week through the first week of May. This series was created by me, Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo, for the amateur family photographer. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, not images taken with high end cameras, complicated techniques nor studio lighting. These are images that ANYONE can take, many of them shot with a point and shoot camera.

TIP 5: CANDID CAMERA

Do you remember that show, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!” Perhaps I am dating myself, but the premise was that people were taped with concealed cameras as they were being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show’s catch phrase, “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.” I am not suggesting you set up pranks for your family so you can photograph how they react. But I am rather telling you that it is truly amazing to quietly watch your family from a detached position, like a concealed camera, almost as if you were a fly on the wall.

Most people photograph the big events- birthday parties, first days of school and beach vacations. But what about daily rituals such as sharing a family dinner, or your children playing with legos? It recently occurred to me that my mom takes my kids for dinner every single Tuesday (we call it Tuesdays with Grandma) and I have never photographed that! If you are using digital cameras there is just no reason not to shoot, shoot, shoot.

As you photograph these every day moments, try to resist the urge to draw attention to yourself and say, “Smile for the camera! Look this way so I can take your photo.” As soon as you do that, the moment is lost. My family is so used to me photographing them that they generally tune me out. Let me give you an example. On a warm evening last May my oldest was at a sleepover so I was home with just the boys. We had no plans except for the usual. So I quietly documented it for the record. As you can see on the photo on the left, when I initially took out my camera Roman’s instinct was to turn to look at me and smile. That is fine. But as I keep on photographing and continue to just be with them, they return to their play- WORMS!!!

Before you know it we are just hanging and I am shooting quite a few images. I will only end up printing my favorites, so why not spend some time doing this?

Then I just wandered around the yard to create a record of the night. The other two important players would be our animals. Here is a photo of Eve dozing. She just died a couple of weeks ago so I am especially thankful that I have many photos of her.

And then we have Kika, who was my first baby. She is getting up in years, too. But doesn’t she look nice by that hydrangea?

Then the boys finished playing with their worms and came over to their improvised drum set. Wish you could have heard the song that accompanied the drumming. This is when video would have been good, too! As you can see they are just being themselves. I generally walk in a circle around to see which angle ends up working best.

Then the monkey dogs, as I affectionately call them, scrambled up a tree while I lay in the hammock. They eventually came back down and joined me in the hammock in the photo on the right. This is foreshadowing of tip 8!

Did you miss the fourth tip? Click HERE to read it. You can also read all of the tips on our FACEBOOK or TWITTER page.

How to Better Photograph Your Children | Tip 4

This is the fourth part in an eight-part series that will post each week through the first week of May. This series was created by me, Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo, for the amateur family photographer. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, not images taken with high end cameras, complicated techniques nor studio lighting. These are images that ANYONE can take, many of them shot with a point and shoot camera.

TIP 4: WATCH THE BACKGROUND

It seems counter intuitive, but any successful photograph BEGINS with the background. A bad background can ruin an otherwise amazing photo. Think of how a painter would work on the background first and then, layer by layer, add the protagonists. When filling up your rectangle (see tip 1) pick a clean or pleasing background so that you can focus on the action, aka. your family.

HERE IS HOW NOT TO DO IT! So here we are in August in North Carolina. It is a hot as Hades and I am at home with a full slumber party of five- my children and their Prelipp Lojk cousins. They had not seen each other all summer so the mood was very festive. The kids were having a raucous game that involved balloons, teams, rules incomprehensible to me and A LOT of screaming. I first tried photographing them in a direction with a really busy background. The detritus of my life, closets, toys, a chair fort, etc. made for a very busy background. So you can hardly focus in on the action.

When shooting digital you can just look at the back of your camera to see how things are looking. I could see right away that the background was too busy. So, I just took a position at the opposite end of the room to get a different view point. The result is below.

Now, with this nice clean background I could just follow the game until I got the right mix of elements. I tend to take a lot of photographs while I am at it. When shooting digital, why not?

Before I put the camera away, I took a quick photo of my favorite people.

Did you miss the second tip? Click HERE to read it. You can also read all of the tips on our FACEBOOK or TWITTER page.

How to Better Photograph Your Children | Tip 2

This is the second part in an eight-part series that will post each week through the first week of May. This series was created by Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo for the amateur family photographer. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, not images taken with my high end cameras, complicated techniques and studio lighting. These are images that anyone can take, many of them shot with a point and shoot camera.

TIP 2: WATCH THE LIGHT

Truly amazing photographs are usually a mix of a moment, good composition and great light. Moments occur like magic at random and composition is something you try for but it only works out beautifully from time to time, but light! You can always find good light. You just have to know where to look for it. There are some very simple rules for finding great light. Bright sunshine creates harsh shadows and most often makes your subject squint. Whereas overcast, almost rainy days are great. Cloud cover acts as a filter on the sun so the resulting light is even and constant. In the image on the left, taken with my iPhone at 11 a.m. on a sunny day the subject, Leo, is obscured by all the harsh shadows and bright light. I can’t even see his handsome face. In the image on the right, taken by my ten-year-old on a overcast day at 4 in the afternoon you can see every single detail of Leo’s pouty face.


The best times of day to photograph are the early morning and late in the day. Try to avoid noon if you can. All light has a temperature or shade. Did you know that fluorescent light is actually green? Our eye corrects for it but cameras do not. Noon light is blue and the beginning and end of day light is beautiful, warm amber. If you happen to find yourself outdoors on a cloudless day at noon, you can always look for open shade. Here is how NOT to do it! In the image below I was able to find some shade to get a photo of my son’s class but we unfortunately did not find a large enough patch of shade. Darn those light blobs, as I call them!

In this photo, taken at the same time of day on a very bright day, I took Amira into shade deep enough to avoid the nasty light blobs.

Did you miss the first tip? Click HERE to read it.

How to Better Photograph Your Children | Tip 1

This is the first part in an eight-part series that will post each week through the first week of May. This series was created for the amateur family photographer. Every family has one person that tends to do all the photographing. Growing up in my family, this was my father. This role is important as the images you capture will become the family legacy. These tips are simple, quick things you can do to vastly improve the photos you take. I will be using photos that I have taken in my role as the family photographer, NOT images taken with my high end cameras, complicated techniques OR studio lighting. THESE ARE IMAGES THAT ANYONE CAN TAKE , MANY OF THEM SHOT WITH A POINT AND SHOOT CAMERA! There are even a few taken by my children. So, the point is, these tips are for anyone who wants to photograph their story better.

TIP 1: THINK INSIDE THE BOX

This first tip is the ONLY one that is a bit more cerebral but I just had to put it first because it is the foundation for a good photograph. The rectangle of space that you see when you look through your camera is your canvas. You can fill this space up in anyway that you want. Often people unconsciously put the camera to their face, point in the direction of the given subject and then press the shutter button. The end result of that type of unconscious photography is a lot of photos taken from far away with a small subject in the center.

As long as you are taking the trouble to take a photograph, go ahead and slow down, take a deep breath, and really look through the view finder. Be intentional about what goes into that box. It is your box, for God’s sake! Below I have three examples of how one can choose to fill up their box in the same situation.

In this series it is Halloween time and the kids are showing off their jack-o-lanterns. My intention was to get an image of each child with their pumpkin and to hopefully tie in the mums as they always remind me of that time of year. On each try I got better about filling up my box. My first attempt was with Amira (mind you it was pitch black at this point and I could barely see). There is a ton of wasted space between her and the pumpkin.

Next I tried with Roman. The result was better but kind of mediocre. All the content of the photo is crammed down into the lower, right-hand corner. And I captured more of the stems of the mums than the flowers.

Third time is a charm! I photographed Leo last and this time I got a nice mix of child, pumpkin and flowers. Too bad he looks like a deer in headlights!

So, the take away from this first installment is to watch and be intentional about what you are photographing. This is why I love photography so much. No matter what is going on with my life it is a time to for me to be a witness of the present moment at the exclusion of all else.