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Family Photos

Be Natural!

Children only sit down to eat food and even then you could do with some superglue on the chair, so don’t make them sit down or do anything they wouldn’t want to. The best way to capture children is in their element – playing! For that reason have some props like bubbles or a favourite football at the ready

The kids Are in Charge!

If you want to capture your child’s attention you’re going to have to let them take you down a peg or two. There are some great perspective tricks you can use to do this such as getting the adult to stand in the distance and lining up your perspective with the horizon so that the child looks bigger than the parent. After one attempt at this, be sure to show the kids the result and they’ll be churning out hundreds of similar ideas begging you to photo them holding a tiny version of Mum in their hands.

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   The above photo is courtesy of Bazoomba_lol on Flickr.

The Whole Family!

Photographs of the whole family this summer will look best when you’re out and about. That’s great because it means you don’t have to worry about lighting. With this in mind use your portrait mode setting on your camera and turn your flash off. Without flash you can really capture the lighting of your surroundings. Take a slightly wider photo so that the location your family are in is obvious. That will make for a much more memorable photo when you look back in years to come.

Once you’ve managed to herd your whole family together, the adults have stopped gossiping and the kids have paused, but briefly, from their mud-slinging competition, you’ve got to make the most of it. Have a joke lined up to make everyone relax. If it is a light hearted comment about someone in the group it will be great as you can press the trigger when everyone looks round and laughs together. Much better than a static ‘all eyes forward’ photo that doesn’t tell much of a story!

About Turn!

Usually when you think of photographing the family you think of what they look like, their faces. Try turning this idea around, literally. Instead of photographing them straight on get them looking at something. If your troopers have spent the day fortifying your beach position with sand castles and moats, make their creation your subject and photograph over your children’s shoulders as they look at what they’ve made. Photographing like this will capture their emotion more than just a normal forward facing head shot and helps to give context which, once again, means the pics will be far more fun to look back at in the future.

The Right Stuff!

Tripod: Almost all digital cameras have a built in timer setting. With a handy Gorilla Pod you can rest your camera, put it on a timer and get yourself in the family portrait too.

Camera: All modern digital compact and SLR cameras will handle portrait photography well in brightly lit situations. Some cameras, such as the Fujifilm Finepix Z10FD come with face detection which help to focus quickly on a tricky subject such as an active child.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 is a great compact choice. It has HD video recording for when one frame is not enough to capture all the action. It also has a 25mm wide angle lens, great for capturing the whole family, and a powerful 12x optical zoom making it just as versatile for distant photos.

The Sony Alpha 350 is a brilliant entry level DSLR, and with the 18-70mm lens provided it’s great for documenting a whole family holiday. It helps that it’s extremely well priced too!

A full range of cameras with Face Recognition can be viewed here

Being a Nikon user through and through I was thoroughly excited to get to play with a Canon camera, especially one with such high reviews. It has an average score of 9.3 and a staggering 9.7 for both features and build quality.

Colin, whose review was voted most helpful by Reevoo users, had this to say on the Canon Powershot G10:

Positive: The G10 is extremely versatile for a compact and has many features found on more expensive, larger DSLR’s. As a hill walker, I was attracted to the reported image quality, raw recording and the size/weight compared to a DSLR and have been delighted by the results.

Negative: Pricey for a compact, but you do get what you pay for. The multitude of features and recording options may be daunting to the novice, however, to buy this camera and only use it in “point and shoot” mode would be a crime.

I think Colin’s last point is extremely important. This camera is expensive for its type but is worth every penny, but only if you are prepared to make the most of it. With deep menu systems and a multitude of different settings it has a lot to offer. The navigation is extremely well laid out and intuitive so don’t shy away if you are a novice. Just think about buying it if you want to really progress your photography skills.

Images are sharp at low ISO ratings which means that in good lighting situations you can get photo quality comparable to higher end DSLR cameras such as the Nikon D300. However, when you start to work in low light the quality quickly degrades. This is not something uncommon in compact cameras and is to be expected but I was hoping for more from this little battle tank.

The screen is really bright, clear and easy to use but I was a little disappointed to find that when shooting in RAW format (the best possible quality and a rarity in compact cameras) I was not able to zoom in afterwards at full quality. This is annoying, especially when you are taking photos in tricky situations and want to make sure you’ve got the focus and shutter speed right.

There are many reviews of the G10, especially on its Reevoo.com product page, so I wanted to focus my attention particularly on one ingenious aspect, the panoramic mode.

The Canon Powershot G10 has a panoramic setting that makes taking impressive wide angle photos a doddle. Switch to the panoramic mode and take your first photo. After having done that the camera will display it on its big 3″ screen as well as a live feed of what you’re pointing your camera at. This allows you to move your camera and line up the next shot in the scene where your previous shot finished. You can take as many shots as you want and then use the provided Canon software to stitch them together. Providing you’ve taken your photos well, which is made even easier by an auto exposure compensation as the light changes across your panorama, the stitching software works a treat and produces fantastic results.

Not being one to stick to the rules I thought I’d be clever and do a vertical panoramic. For a first attempt I was quite impressed with how easy it was to do. The only complaint I have is that too much of the screen was taken up by the overlaid previous image so I felt I was taking 10 photos where I could have taken 5. I think with more experimentation I could probably have found a way around that problem.

The Canon G10 looks like it means business, feels like it means business and for the most part acts like it means business. It’s well weighted, sturdily designed, has a great menu system and well positioned button lay out. Its optical zoom function is deceptively good and at 14.7 megapixels a digital crop zoom is definitely not out of the question on any shots taken below ISO 400. After ISO 400 noise is bad but the camera has a much welcomed flash hotshoe built in meaning you can get really professional photos even in low light if you are happy to buy an accompanying flash such as the Canon 430 EX II.

Overall if you are looking for an innovative and sturdy compact with much of the power of a Digital SLR but none of the backpack space then the Canon G10 is worth considering. Just make sure if you’re willing to spend the money that you are going to make the most of it and delve deep into its menu system and plethora of settings.

If you want to look at reviews for Nikon’s answer to the Canon G10, go to Reevoo and look at the Nikon P6000.

Reviews, product information and price comparison on the Canon Powershot G10 can be read Here

Yesterday we looked at choosing your location when taking photos of people, today we’re going to look at how to work with the people themselves to get the best out of your camera.

The Subject:

This is the hard part - Trying to get your subject to relax, look natural and, if they’re a tiny tearaway, getting them to put down the Tonka truck, stop splashing in the paddling pool or pretending they’re the neighbourhood’s local Jedi.

Children:
As I mentioned earlier, taking the photo in surroundings that match your subject is very important. If your grandchild is playing on the swings photograph him playing there. If they’re camera shy make a game of it and try to distract them. For example don’t tell them you are trying to take a photo of them, tell them you are trying to take a photo of the person that can swing the highest on the swings. That way you’re guaranteed a memorable action shot.

Adults:
Adults are easier because they don’t have so much of a desire to run rampant but they’re also harder because they are likely to be more conscious of being photographed.
I find it is definitely best to know your subject beforehand so that you can help them relax by talking to them about their interests. If it’s a relative this should be easy.
Start with a simple setup, place a chair perpendicular to your camera and then have your subject sit in the chair and turn their head, not their body, towards the camera. Clear and simple instructions like this will help your subject feel confident and not concerned about what they should be doing.

Take a few photos like this and explain the procedure is mainly to help you set up and check the lighting. At this stage you should tell them it doesn’t matter how they pose and you will end up with a good starting photo. Use your LCD screen and show them. The good start will help them relax.

From here on it’s up to you and your subject. Posing someone and at the same time helping them look natural is extremely hard. The best results will come naturally from a relaxed subject and a relaxed you! Whatever you do, don’t ’sneak’ shots. Your subject will likely be horrified you took a photo when they weren’t ready. As the shoot develops you’ll find the subject more relaxed and willing to mess around in front of the camera anyway, resulting in a more genuine end product.

Group Photos:
There are simple rules when taking group photos, and my suggestion, unless it’s a serious affair, is to break most of them.
Have the shortest people stand behind the tallest and then get them to try and be seen by jostling for a front spot.

Encourage people to go back to their school class portrait days and you’re guaranteed a great shot that you could look at all day, hunting for the rude gestures and tongue waggling in the crowd!

Make people jump! Jumping is great for a group photo, not least because you can use your digital camera to show the crowd who jumped last and encourage some competition for the next shot.

Tomorrow part 3 of  ‘Taking Photographs Guide: The Portrait’ will focus on setting up your camera.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to go through a selection of photography use cases, starting with the band photograph.

Everyone likes taking photos of bands, it captures a real moment of energy, but it’s a notoriously tricky place to get a good shot. Hopefully the following will help you work out the kind of camera you want to get the results you’re after.

The Band Photograph

The angle
Angles are important in band photos. There’s often more than one person on stage and you will want to do 2 things.

1. Capture the whole band

You’ll need a wide angle lens for this, something like 18mm. Most compact cameras go this wide and most dSLRs come with a wide angle kit lens so there’s not too much to worry about here.

2. Focus on the main performer

It’s easy to forget about the band as a whole so I always start with the wide shots and then start my close up work. I usually use a 105mm lens. It gives the freedom to do mid range shots but is fine for closeups so long as the stage isn’t too far away. You’ll obviously need a telephoto lens for this.

The rules of shooting will be reasonably similar in wide and close angle work in a gig situation so let’s go through the process:

Setting up
There are 3 important variables when taking band photos. They don’t always apply when you arrive at the gig but they always need to be considered at the preparatory stage.

1. The constant

As you work you’ll need a constant. That is to say, a setting that never changes. Some compacts and virtually all SLRs allow you to change all of your settings. The constant at a gig is shutter speed.
Set your shutter speed to 1/60th of a second. You’ll need it to be this fast for telephoto work as anything slower will amplify the shaking of your hand. A 60th is also good for capturing motion in the band members at wide angles but fast enough to get a crisp shot of a singer at their microphone.
With this constant in mind we work in the other settings, with the end goal being a correctly exposed image.

2. Light

As I said earlier, light is something you need to plan for. It is always a good idea to research the venue beforehand, look at their image gallery to see what kind of light is likely to be available. Then expect them to have forgotten to hire a lighting technician or that they decided to go for a dark, moody set the one night you choose to take photos!
At best expect the light to be changeable.

If you want to be safe, and also to get some great results, pack a flash. If you’re using a compact you’ll have one built in. If you’re using an SLR you can get a hotshoe-mountable flash. I highly recommend one with a pivotable head. You will want to bounce the light.
For non flash work you will now need to determine a balance between your ISO sensitivity and your aperture.

3. ISO and Aperture

As discussed in my Digital Camera Video ISO determines the sensitivity of your camera’s sensor to light and aperture determines how much light is let in through the lens. The trade off is graininess at high ISOs and a shallow depth of field at wide apertures.
Having a wide aperture is going to be fine for the close up shots as you don’t need anything in the background. With this in mind set your aperture as wide as possible. My 105mm goes to f2.8 so that’s what I use.

Now that we have 2 settings we need to determine the 3rd, ISO.
This is easy now. Just look at the scene through your viewfinder and adjust the ISO until you are correctly exposed.

You’re now ready to start taking photos. I hope the band are still playing!

Taking the Photo

How you take the photos is up to you. My advice is to get close. Get closer than anyone else. Don’t be afraid to intrude. These people are performers, they want to have their photos taken and people want to see those photos!
What you will need to do as you work is watch the light. If it’s changeable you’ll need to be prepared to adjust accordingly. If it’s static look for the interesting shot. If it’s too dark to get a decent picture use it to your advantage. Look for what’s called ‘rim lighting’ and set your camera to expose for that. The result will definitely be interesting. It will reveal form and features through shadow and I guarantee you you’ll be the only person with a sharp photo that night.

When you’re taking wide angle shots you might want to try increasing your ISO and your aperture. That way you will get the drummer, who is always tucked away at the back, in more focus. If you ever plan to sell your images to the band make sure you get lots of the drummer! Drummers always get missed out and they’ll be very pleased to see you’ve snapped him or her.

If you’re using a flash you can bring your ISO down. Point the flash at the ceiling but pick where you stand. Lots of venues have strange black ceilings or piping for their air conditioning. All of these things will cause you to either lose light or get a colour cast in your photo. The latter isn’t much of a problem as you can correct it at a later date or just work in black and white but make sure you’re not wasting those precious flash batteries by firing it into a ceiling cavity!

There’s nothing left now but to get out there and start snapping! Look for interesting angles, try and be different, be aware of your surroundings and your settings. Get to know your camera and the nuances between the way the settings interact and you’ll have a very satisfying evening.

Recommended Cameras for Band Photography

Compacts

Canon Powershot G10
Nikon Coolpix P6000

With vibration reduction to help stabilise the shot, a full set of manual functions and high ISO ranges the Nikon P6000 and Canon Powershot G10 are the compact gig cameras of choice. They’re both robust enough to put up with anything and have proper viewfinders. Using the viewfinder helps stabilise the camera further as it’s close to your body and rested on your face instead of at arms length. Both cameras also come with hotshoes totally freeing you to experiment with an extra flash. Both have bright lenses at f2.8 and f2.7 at their widest and have good telephoto zooms at 140mm and 112mm respectively.

dSLRs

Pentax K200D

The K200D is an excellent starting dSLR. It has vibration reduction built in to the camera body itself which means that you don’t have to pay a fortune for expensive VR lenses. Pentax have a vast range of lenses, almost all of which will work on this feature packed entry level dSLR.

Nikon D90

Built on a legacy of prosumer camera ranges that made headlines years ago with the D70, the D90 builds on and expands with a sturdy body and VR lens ranging from 18 to 105mm, perfect for band photography.
Over half of the photos on this article were taken with my old D70. It’s still going strong!

Next week… The Portrait

After our best mobile phones of 2008 post last week, we’ve moved onto digital cameras.

Whether you’re after a nice compact or a DSLR packed full of features, we’ve got the highest rated and the most popular in both categories on Decide What to Buy.

All ratings are by consumers who have all bought the products. They voted the £182, 13 megapixel Sony CyberShot DSC-W300 as the top compact digital camera of 2008.

There are great reviews on this camera with comments like:

“the picture quality is amazing”

“Brilliant little touches to the camera, like the musical slide show playback and the photo doctoring within the view back, love this camera!!”

It also gets great scores for categories like image and build quality:

And the compact that everyone’s looking at in the run-up to Christmas? It’s the 10 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5. It came out a few months ago but people still love the fact that it’s packed full of features. It’s currently around £125.

When it came to SLRs, the highest rated was the £478 Canon EOS 450D. With the same image quality score as the CyberShot DSC-W300, this camera really impressed its owners. One reviewer said it was “outstanding”.

The most popular SLR is the Olympus E-420. It’s a nice upgrade from last year’s E-410 and has face detection, shadow adjustment technology, 3.5fps continuous shooting rate for up to 9 Raw images and a one-touch white balance function. It’s around £350.

Here are the rest of the favourites:


TOP COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS

TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS IN LAST 30 DAYS:

1. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5

2. Nikon Coolpix S710

3. CASIO Z200

4. Olympus FE-350

5. Canon IXUS 980 IS


TOP FIVE HIGHEST RATED COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS OF 2008:

1. Sony CyberShot DSC-W300

2. Canon Digital IXUS 90IS

3. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5

4. Fujifilm Finepix Z20

5. Fujifilm Finepix F100

TOP SLR CAMERAS of 2008

TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR SLRs IN LAST 30 DAYS:

1. Olympus E-420

2. Canon EOS 50D

3. Nikon D300

4. Sony Alpha A700

5. Canon EOS 1000D


TOP FIVE HIGHEST RATED SLRs OF 2008:

1. Canon EOS 450D

2. Sony Alpha A350

3. Nikon D90

4. Sony Alpha A300

5. Nikon D60