I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, Karen, who enjoys photography as a hobby and although she isn’t interested in pursuing it as a profession she was asking what I think is the one single thing is that separates an amateur from a professional portrait photographer?
Now, I know that most amateurs always want the answer to be camera equipment. Everyone into photography is into gear and is always eyeing off some piece of new equipment that will take them to the next level, that will make a big difference to their images. Truth be told, new kit probably isn’t the answer if you are after great images of children and what you have now is just fine.
So, what is the one single thing that I believe makes the biggest difference to getting great photos of children?
Simply, get down to their level. It’s really that easy.
If you shoot from below their eye level, your whole perspective changes and your images will come alive.
Good luck and have fun shooting.
If you can’t get down to below your subjects eye level, try raising them up. For this series of images I used a rock ledge to get a better perspective of this awesome expression.
Family photos with children will also have a different feel if you get lower when shooting.
For this series of images I was literally laying on the ground.
If you have children in a photo, try bringing them up to the same height as the adults or…
Bring the adults to the same level as the kids.
Shooting from below eye level of children works for all ages.
This beautiful “story portrait” was captured with the technique I describe and will be treasured for decades by the Doyle family.
