How to Better Photograph Your Family- Tip Three

TIP 3: GET UP. GET DOWN. GET MOVING!

When you photograph your family without being intentional about it, most of your photos are taken from the same eye level. While some photos are great taken from that level, if all are taken that way it makes for some pretty boring photos. Here is an example of what most people do: line up kids, stand upright, raise camera to eye level and shoot before one child wanders off.
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I am not saying the above photo is a bad photo. It serves its purpose of documenting the kids at Christmas. But like any holiday, many photos are taken and wouldn’t it be nice to see some variety? Get low. Get high. Move in close. Back up to get a wide view of the scene. Take vertical and horizontal photos depending on what fills up the viewfinder better (see TIP 1).
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For the image above I wanted to see the look on Roman’s face as he opened presents, so I shot from up high.
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For the image on the left I got down low so I could see Leo’s cute face under his huge Santa hat. In the image on the right I actually got in the bathtub and stood on the edge so I could have a nice, high vantage point from which to see these kids “helping” to wash baby Luke.

Oh, and yes, I am aware of the fact that my family has a freakish amount of holiday sweaters and outfits! I have my darling mother to thank for that. Thank you, Sandra Prelipp!

Did you miss the second tip? Read it HERE.

Snapshots from the Hill is column about photography and the stories behind the pictures. Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo, owner of KPO Photo in downtown Carrboro, has spent her adult life telling stories with her camera — capturing the everyday and extraordinary with her camera lens. She graduated from the UNC Chapel Hill School of Journalism and worked for The Chapel Hill News and The News & Observer before founding KPO Photo in 2001. Kristin’s passions revolve around this amazing community we live in — raising her three children, cultivating her garden, and documenting the important moments in her clients’ lives. She writes about the art of photography and the local people and happenings she has met and experienced while exploring her craft. She is very open to suggestions for stories. If you know of a person or event you think deserves to be documented, please write to her at kpophoto@chapelboro.com.

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How to Better Photograph Your Family- Tip Seven

This is the seventh in an eight-part series 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. TIP 7: HAVE A PLAN.   If you are the self-designated family photographer you work hard at faithfully recording all […]

How to Better Photograph Your Family- Tip Six

This is the sixth in an eight-part 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 […]

How to Better Photograph Your Family- Tip Four

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 […]

How to Better Photograph Your Family- Tip Three

TIP 3: GET UP. GET DOWN. GET MOVING! When you photograph your family without being intentional about it, most of your photos are taken from the same eye level. While some photos are great taken from that level, if all are taken that way it makes for some pretty boring photos. Here is an example […]

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