Cleaning the background of your photos.
Even with the realistic documentation of family life, there are some tips to make cleaner and clearer images that show who your family is.
Tilt your camera
By simply raising and tilting the camera, you can get rid of background clutter from your frame. Also, don’t forget to get move closer so that your frame is filled with valuable information.
Get Straight To The Point
YOU are the storyteller. It’s all in the framing that tells people what you are trying to say. If you love how the kid is crossing their feet, get straight to it. Show don’t tell.
Wide Versus Tight
When deciding whether to have a wide shot or a tight one, it all comes down to the story. What is it you are trying to say? In this example, I find it interesting how large the room is and how close Liam is standing to the T.V.
Clean The Background
By simply walking to the other side, you can remove things from the frame.
Find The Light
When photographing in contrasting light, decide if you will shoot for the highlights or shadows and then wait for the subject to pass that area.
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.
