This document provides guidance on studio photography techniques for portraits of children. It discusses using the rule of thirds for composition, leaving headroom, aperture and depth of field, age-appropriate posing, lighting setups with key, fill, and back lights for white or black backgrounds, and elements that make "good" portraits such as mood, storytelling, texture, and dramatic lighting. Proper framing, posing suited to the child's age, using studio lights to control exposure and background brightness are emphasized for successful children's portraits.

1. The Basics of studio photography By AnikaEdrei for family portraiture

2. The Rule of Thirds Notice how the child’s face is cut by two horizontal and one vertical line– due to the rule of thirds, this means that the viewers eyes will be drawn to the mouth and nose first, and then up to the eyes. The rule of thirds is a guideline many photographers follow in order to acquire a well-composed photo. When framing a subject, sometimes the digital camera has the option to place a 3x3 square grid on the viewfinder so that the screen is divided in thirds both horizontally and vertically. The points where the two lines intersect are called “crash” or “power” points, and are where the viewers eye is lead to first. This rule is great to help think of more interesting ways to frame the face other than front and center. The photo on the right, for instance, shows a child with 3/4ths of his face visible, a popular way to make the subject look more attractive and still have the majority of their face showing. http://web1.shutterfly.com/img_/howto/basics/ruleofthirds.jpg

3. Leaving Headroom Notice how in this photograph, the nose is in the center of the image. Much better! A common pitfall with amateur photographers is leaving too little or not enough head space. An easy way to perfectly frame a face that is looking forward is to remember the rule of thirds– the eyes should be at about the 1/3rd mark from the top. If you move the head too far down, you center your subjects nose, something that should never be the focus of a viewers attention. If the head is too far up, the nose rests on the 1/3rd mark as opposed to the eyes. This makes the nose more prominent as well, and gives the viewer the discomfort of having the scalp meet the top of the photograph. It’s important to note that it is acceptable to cut off the top of the head if you are filling up the space in portrait photography– however, the rule of thirds still applies! http://www.utexas.edu/web/video/graphics/headroom1.gif http://www.utexas.edu/web/video/graphics/headroom2.gif

4. Using Aperture– What is the F-Stop? The f-stop is the number that represents how much light is being taken into the camera lens. More expensive lenses have the capability to have a lower f-stop– however, lenses with a very low aperture are usually very expensive, as well as more cumbersome to carry. The more light that is being let into the lens, the shallower the depth of field will be. That means that for macro photography, one would prefer a lower f-stop than someone who primarily takes photos of landscapes. For childrens portraiture, its important to have an aperture that will take in enough light for a high shutter speed, so you can capture them moving around. The older they get, the less worried you have to be about allowing for movement, which makes it easier to get a portrait with a deeper depth of field. The diagram above demonstrates that with a lower f-stop, the more open the camera lens is. That means that more light is being taken in at a time, allowing the shutter to be open for less. That means that it’s possible to photograph a subject moving at higher speeds, but at the cost of a shallower focus.

5. Using Appropriate Posing: Part I The appropriate mood and style varies drastically with the context of your photography. Are you documenting an event, or is this a private photoshoot? Who is going to see your photos afterwards? When working in a family photography studio, it’s important to note the age of the child and what stage in development they are, as it will affect what posing you will want to use. For a younger child, its easier to photograph them lying down or on their bellies– for a toddler, it may be better to bring their mother into the studio, as it will be easier to shoot them interacting with someone in a natural setting than trying to keep them still and looking at a camera lens. Newborn 1 year old 3 year old

6. Using Appropriate Posing: Part 2 Typically, when thinking of poses for small children one wants to show a full or 3/4ths of a face– profiles and other unconventional methods of framing the face aren’t as successful with parents who are taking photos to document their children’s childhood. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative! Use an interesting backdrop, or get a full body shot. When taking photos of a young kid, its best to photograph without shoes or socks, mainly because baby feet always look better than dirty sneakers. Let the mom interact with them on the sideline to make them feel more comfortable. When taking photos of young children, its important to be comfortable with making silly noises and doing silly things. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb to get a young kid to laugh, especially because they’re in a foreign place with people they don’t know. A popular PortraitBug trick is getting the child to look into key light so 3/4ths of his face is visible and his/her eyes shine.

7. Working in the Studio Different backdrops need different lighting. The two most basic lights are the key and fill lights. The name of the key light pretty much explains it all– it is the main source of light in your studio setup. The fill light helps reduce the shadowing to whatever extent the photographer finds appropriate. Sometimes, there are lights in the back as well (in PortraitBug, there were two of these). These lights can be pointed towards the subject to help prevent them from blending into the background, or can be pointed towards the background to make it lighter or brighter behind the subject. Key light Fill light

8. Using Studio Lights With a White Background The key to shooting on a white backdrop are the lights behind the subject. No matter what, they should be on full power, facing towards the backdrop– that way, they blow out the background to hide scratches and shadows that would have to be edited out later. Also, this makes the mood bright and playful, which is fantastic for children’s photography. Depending on your aperture, your key light and fill light will be different every time– however, its important to note that your fill light should be just high enough to bring shadows to a minimum. That’s how you can get fun, adorable photos like the one on the left!

9. Using Studio Lights with a Black Background When using a black background, you don’t need to shine lights in the back– and for obvious reasons, because you want the background to be as dark as possible. One light that is vital to photographing on black, however, is the hair light. The hair light is placed behind the subject and shines on the top of the head, ensuring dark-haired individuals don’t get lost in the background. On black it’s a lot easier to play with your key and fill lights. In the example on the side, the fill light was intentionally left on low power and the depth of field was shallow, making a beautiful soft focus.

10. What makes “good” portrait photography? In order to provide proper instruction on what makes a good portrait, I decided to include my personal favorite photo I’ve seen taken at PortraitBug, my previous internship. I chose this photo because of it’s intimate nature. You can see the texture of the parent’s hands, though you can’t see him-- the hands are enough to imply the connection between parent and child. The child looks like he is asleep, and by being in the bucket his size (or lack thereof) is emphasized. The viginetting and shadows of the black and white photograph are very visually appealing to me– dramatic lighting is a personal favorite of mine, because it accentuates the mood. This isn’t a photograph one would use to exhibit the child, which would only be interesting if the subject was personally known or looked especially eccentric– this photo tells a story beyond the face, which is what makes a captivating portrait.

11. Making Interesting Portraits A focus on texture and color can make a traditionally posed photograph a lot more interesting. Without the clothes and the tone of the photograph, the subject wouldn’t look as exotic. Posing can change the emotion behind a portrait completely. The spontaneity of the pose is juxtaposed with the fact that its in black and white, creating tension and provoking emotion. Dramatic shadowing takes glamour photography to another level. Notice the darkness of the subjects hair in comparison to the rest of the photo.