Everything you need to know to start family documentary photography- Composition (2022)
After photographing over 50 families and making thousands of sh*t photos. I curated a list of tips I learned in Family Documentary photography.
Fill the Frame
A photo is like NYC real estate, we want to live in the center of life and every inch is valuable. When looking through our camera, look at the edges of the frame, is there too much empty space? If so, get closer. Would you like to see your furniture or your family?
Tone your Butt
The biggest mistake I see people make is photographing children from an adult perspective. Children are short. Get your knees crackin’ and your butts toned.
Rule of thirds
Imagine a tic-tac-toe board on your photo. Where do you place your subject in the frame? A frame is composed of 3 horizontal rows and 3 verticals. When you are composing a scene, placing the subject on one of the lines creates movement for our eyes to follow. It keeps the viewer’s eyes in constant circular movement rather than getting stuck in the center of the frame.
Foreground & background
A composition has 3 layers. Foreground, mid-ground, and background. Having a subject in the foreground and background creates depth. It allows the viewer to toggle back and forth from the front to the back. Imagine how much stronger a photo gets when your dog is literally climbing out of the camera to you. You can feel it inching towards your face.
Capture various angles
Get that ‘safe shot’ but then try other angles to see which one tells a better story. Let the photo speak for itself.
