Capturing Holiday Gatherings | Photo Tips
In any given crowd, when the camera comes out, you'll find: heavy sighing eye rollers, outright disgruntling complainers, helpful and willing smilers, making-the-best-of-it jokers, hesitant and insecure back-rowers, and the maybe-she'll-go-away ignoring forgoers. Capturing your family during the holidays can bring the stress levels up for everyone involved. Unless you take a different approach.
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I wanted to share a few ways you can take pictures that will tell the story of the gathering without having all the stress a crowd can bring (although that's pretty entertaining too!).
[DISCLAIMER: I'm not a professional. Anything you see or read here today is a matter of opinion based on my experience holding a camera. Proceed at your own risk.]
1. Observe What's Going On: almost like an out of body experience, step back and just take notice of what's going on around you. You will likely find all sorts of mini vignettes inside that giant picture of "right now". Then step back into the moment and capture the mini vignettes, one at a time.
EXAMPLE >> you step back and see:grandma in the rocker, the ladies in the kitchen, kids playing in the corner, the dog chewing on someone's shoe, the guys asleep in recliners. Take your camera inside each vignette to frame the details.Grandma's hands knitting, the ladies laughing together, little hands working the puzzles, ground level shot of the shoe in the dog's mouth, the TV remote slipping from a hand or drool sliding down the corner of their mouths.
2.Level with the Subject: use your camera at a level that is true to what is going on in the picture you are framing. This will make you feel as if you're right back in the moment again when you are flipping through the pictures later on down the road (printed pictures, of course, because we never let them just sit on a hard drive somewhere...forgotten...forever).
EXAMPLE >> if you are trying to frame the picture where the dog is chewing on the shoe, you will have more emotion in the picture if the camera is resting at floor level right where the dog's face is. (totally busted should be the expression captured there!)
3. Keep Things Real: too much posing of people captures people not looking their normal selves. And normal is what you want to remember!! Just click them in their real element, whether they are looking at the camera or not. You will find the expressions to be natural and more appealing than the plastered pretend smiles!
EXAMPLE >> Aunt Gerdy knows she's about to be in a picture so she pulls her slip up real quick. But Aunt Gerdy is known for always having her slip hang out past her skirt. It's her thing. It's what always is. Frame that memory when she's not paying attention to the lens pointed in her direction!
4. Tell the story: Every snapshot you take is like a sentence in the story of your life. Approach your gathering as a story teller and capture life as it is happening. Don't stop the flow by asking for poses. Your pictures will turn out 100% better and you won't be seen as a nuisance, which is a nice perk! Everyone with thank you later when they see their story...cough, cough, ahem... printed out!
That's just a few thoughts on how I capture our life story. What tips could you share with us? Which tip above do you hope to employ at the next holiday gathering?
Thanks for being here today!
