Portraits of your loved ones

Samantha Cube is a photography enthusiast and writes blogs regularly. She uses a wide range of products for her own photography needs.

People have been fascinated by portraits for hundreds of years, they are a fantastic piece of art and history to have in your home. Portraits of family members remind us of our ancestry and provide memorable historical pieces.

No longer just for the wealthy, camera’s have becoming more accessible over the last few decades thanks to advances in technology. This means that parents can now compose and capture wonderful portraits of their children, right in the comfort of their own home. And why not, no one else knows your child like you do, so who else better to take their photo?

Portraits differ to traditional photography ‘action shots’ as in a portrait the subject is the focal point. A good portrait should be able to capture the subject in their most natural position, and portray them in a simplistic manner.

1. Get practicing! The best way to go about improving is to practice and experiment. Taking photos of your children is hard as they are constantly running around, why not get the camera out late at night when they are more docile.

2. Choose your background carefully, the background should be simple, and as void of color as possible. A plain beige sofa is a great place to photography your kids, especially while they although it may be tempting to take pictures of them in the park, the busy background may detract from the photo.

3. Blurring the background is a good way to keep it from detracting from your subject, and also works to highlight the crispness of the shot’s focus. A good way to achieve this effect with a DSLR, is to use a fixed-focal-length 50mm lens. These lenses have beautiful depth perception, similar to that of the human eye.

4. Eyes are undoubtedly the most integral element of any portrait. Whether they are looking towards or off camera, a subject’s eyes are their most expressive weapons. As a result you should always ensure your camera is focused on the eyes of your child. When you have captured something beautiful in their eyes, the rest of their face tends to follow. Childrens eyes are especially clear, so zoom in real close!

5. The angle of a shot can change the look and feel of an image drastically. Experiment with angles. Try shooting from very low looking up, or from above your child. You can also play with camera angles, instead of always shooting straight on. If you are shooting on a diagonal, make sure the angle is exaggerated enough to ensure it doesn’t just look like an error.

6. You will need to make your child feel comfortable and natural. To capture a candid moment, it is best to engage your child in something they enjoy doing, while ensuring the background and light in the area is appropriate for taking photographs. In a more posed situation, you will need to give your child gentle direction, but keep in mind they will probably not want to stay in this position for long, so your window of opportunity is small!