Nap Time Rocks!

When stooping to one’s level is a good thing

This is an article for Photo Nuts, found at Litratong Pinoy‘s monthly tips and tricks section.

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You might have heard that stooping to one’s level is never advisable. In conflicts, sure. But in photography, doing exactly that may just make all the difference between a normal photo and a good one.

Take for example when taking a picture of a toddler. I noticed that most of the members of Litratong Pinoy are parents. In fact, most of the time our subject are our kids!

So how do you take interesting photos that capture the nature of kids? How do you avoid making your picture look ordinary? I actually have 3 cardinal rules that I try to follow when taking photos, especially of children.

Rule #1: Stoop to their level

No, don’t scream and throw tantrums when they won’t pose for you. Get down on your knees, elbows, or tummy if need be, and then shoot away. You may be pleasantly surprised that a perspective at this level can turn out a good photo.

Take a look at photo #3. I initially took this one:

And then I realized it was really uninteresting, it was too long a shot (meaning it was too zoomed out), and the background (scaffolding) didn’t really work into the picture.

Rule #2: Move it!

Or rather, let them move. If the child is camera-shy, the best way to capture fun (and ‘innocent’) moments would be to let them do their thing. Make sure you’re prepared and then shoot away (sample photo #2). Saka na mag-delete ng pictures, pag na-upload na! You wouldn’t want to miss anything, so kuha lang ng kuha. Thank goodness for digital cameras, huh?

Also, don’t be afraid to run after them. That’s the fun part, isn’t it?

Rule #3: Messy and all

Details, details, details. The hair in the face, the ice cream on the nose, the icky soil and dirt on the hands. Minsan lang tayo maging bata, sabi nga. Zoom in, extreme close up (see sample photo #1). And this way too, you’ll get good depth of field (i.e., blurred background; make sure lang that the background is far enough).

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I’d love to share more, but I think this is getting too long. If you still have questions about this article/tips though, the whole of Team LP will be experts in that field Super thanks team LP for letting me be part of Photo Nuts!