It’s not the Father Time who steals memories… it’s lost photo opportunities. You can take endless numbers of pictures with digital cameras, but as the family photojournalist, you have to be prepared! Here’s YOUR 2009 checklist!
- Batteries. Your goal is to take lots and lots and lots of pictures. Don’t run out of power just as a critical situation unfolds! Make sure your charger is working, and have three rechargeable batteries: one for the camera, one that can be recharging while another is in use and a third in case you need it before a recharge has completed.
- Memory card(s). The more storage on a card, the more memories you can capture without having to change out the card. Have at least two cards with the most memory possible. When one fills up, replace it with the second so you don’t have to waste precious moments downloading the pictures to your computer. (Don’t forget to download them and clear the card when you get a chance!)
- Tripod. This doesn’t have to be fancy. You want to set up the camera so that it is perfectly still. If you don’t have a tripod, look for flat surfaces on which to sit the camera where it won’t move while you are taking a picture. A bean bag or pillow can also cradle a camera into a snug and stable position for taking pictures with long exposures.
- External flash that tilts up for bouncing light, or Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop, which allows the pop-up flash on 35mm SLRs to bounce its light off a ceiling or wall. You’ll want to use bounced flash to capture the fast-moving action while decorating the tree, cooking up a feast, or unwrapping gifts and playing with them. Bouncing the flash also lets you get very close to your subjects without blasting them with too much light.
YOUR STORY: THE PHOTOJOURNALIST’S APPROACH
Photograph your family’s special moments as if you were telling a story. Look for moments that convey a beginning, middle, and end. And spice those with a variety of angles and points of view to create a memorable holiday scrapbook.
Overall Sets the Scene
An overall generally requires a high angle. A step stool or even a chair will do inside. Heading out to a New Year’s celebration? Bring a step stool. Take a few shots from on high to show the scope of the party—and thus the reverie of friends and family. And you can get LOW for a good overall, too!
Medium Shot Tells the Story
A medium shot “tells the story” in one picture. Come in close enough to see the kids in action, yet far enough away to show their relationship to one another and to the scene. The medium shot contains all the storytelling elements — mom or dad baking cookies while the kids come in for closer inspection, perhaps.
Close-up Adds Drama
The close-up brings us into eyeball-to-eyeball contact with your subject. Come in tight to get facial expressions – wonderment, frustration, glee? Come close, close, and closer to drawings fashioned by little fingers. Bounce the flash off a ceiling or wall to avoid washing out the picture.
Unique Perspectives Reveal New Worlds
Show the world from your child’s perspective. Get down, way down, to show in a picture what your little girl or boy is seeing. Don’t worry about including the child. Just look up. Capture your little one’s world. A wide-angle lens setting works best in these situations, but experiment; also try different lens settings.
For the ultimate unique perspective, once you’ve gotten some pictures you like, put the camera on automatic and hand it to your child. You may be surprised at the world as seen from a child’s point of view. When the whole family is around, let Grandma, Grandpa, and the cousins have turns, too.
Keep Following the Story
Repeat these kinds of shots as you follow your family through 2009, watch the transformation into a thing of magic. Using this approach as each event unfolds — from recitals to birthdays and all the events in between. A photojournalist’s approach to photographing your family’s special events and daily rituals will deliver an entire story to be relived by generations to come.
Photos by family photojournalist Luanne Cadd
Ken Kobré
Professor of Photojournalism
San Francisco State University
Inventor of Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop
www.lightscoop.com
