Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Tip Tuesday – Are You Ready for Your Close Up?

One of my favorite shots to get at every portrait session is a close-up of the subject’s face – either frontal, profile or eyelash shot.

Sometimes the background can be distracting and by coming in close you can help alleviate the distraction. If the background takes away from the image instead of adds to the image then it may not need to be there.

During my B-SLR (Before SLR) days I loved shooting with my Point and Shoot camera. I loved that it had a zoom lens, BUT I always noticed that there was SO much in the background of the images and it took away from the story I was trying to relay. The background would be the focus while the person was tiny in the middle and you could hardly see their expression.

Because I relied on the zoom lens the one thing I didn’t think to do was actually MOVE. I now know that it is okay to actually move closer to the subject. They won’t bite me. :) 

Here is an example of what moving closer can do.

Although Cody looked cute as can be sporting his Yo Gabba Gabba sweatshirt with his hood on, the sweatshirt was distracting. The colors were too bright and drowned him out. The colors were too Christmas-y.

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By moving in close the focus was on his face and the hood served as a frame around his face instead of a “prop”. Isn’t this image much more pleasing? (And not to mention SUPER DUPER adorable????? And I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom…okay, maybe I am! =D )

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If you try this tip, please share your thoughts. :)

2 comments:

Patty Reiser said...

I love the close up. You did a wonderful job.

The Hapa Girl said...

wow! Love that tip! I love your tuesday tip...however, I'm not getting good non flash pics because of lack of lighting in the house...will need to work on that!