Recently a friend of mine asked me how I took my family snapshots ‘to the next level’. He has a DSLR and a good eye for composition but he couldn’t get the look he was after. So we went through the images that he liked and there were two things in common – I thought I’d share them here (with help from a small person).
1. Use a wide aperture
I love the look that shallow depth of field gives, and to that end I have a collection of wide primes. Most of the photos that my friend picked out were taken with a wide aperture to separate the subject from the background and to give that indescribable dreamy look that comes with it.
This image was taken with my 135mm at f/2.
My suggestion to him was to buy a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and to use it lots. Both Canon and Nikon versions of this lens are great because:
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2. Bounce a flash
The second thing that struck him was the lighting. I always carry a flash that I can bounce off the nearest wall to give a nice soft directional light source. This gives the image a certain three-dimensionality that’ll be missing from indoor photos taken with the camera’s built-in flash.
I suggested that he buy a good flash without going for the top of the range. The Canon 430EX would easily meet his needs and would make a great slave (off-camera) flash if he chose to move this way in the future.
A flash is a worthwhile investment. They’re not cheap but they can make a huge different to the quality of an indoor photo. Nowadays the complexities of flash are handled by the camera, you can literally turn the flash head towards a wall so that it’ll bounce back off it and then press the shutter release – the camera will work out how much power to apply to the flash. Wonderful.
Bear in mind that the above photos aren’t planned shots, and they aren’t examples of great photography, they’re shot on the spur of the moment as memories, however these basic techniques can make a great improvement to that family album.
I think you’re completely wrong here…. they are examples of great photography.
You’re too kind
I agree with Jeff Tim – that first image is a complete corker!
Kev Mullins
Yep! I looove that first photo. Great moment captured forever .. oh how I love photography.