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So the next tip I want to give you all is quite simple.\u00a0 Take photos OUTSIDE!<\/em>\u00a0 Any point and shoot on full auto or even your camera phone will take photos 10,000 times better when there is a lot of available light.\u00a0 What is available light you ask?\u00a0 Wikipedia defines it as<\/a>:\u00a0 “Available light:\u00a0 The term usually refers to sources of light that are already available<\/em> naturally (e.g. the sun, moon, lightning) or artificial light already being used (e.g. to light a room).”\u00a0 Right now we don’t need to worry about lighting up a room- so lets use the light that is available to use for free OK?\u00a0 The sun it’s self is one of the best, most flattering lighting for photographing people in a natural way.\u00a0 You just need to know how and when to use it.<\/p>\n First things first.\u00a0 The time of day for hoping outside to capture portraits of your kids does matter.\u00a0 Early morning or late afternoon\/early evening just before sunset are the 2 best times to photograph outside.\u00a0 If you go outside at 12 noon on a super bright day and try to take some portraits of your kids they will be squinting and complaining that it’s too hot outside, right?\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Also the more overhead lighting at mid-day can cause unflattering under eye and nose shadows.\u00a0 The light is to harsh at that hour.\u00a0 During the early morning (and I mean early- we were up and at the beach by 7am for this recent beach session<\/a>) and late afternoon as you can see in the photo above produce beautiful lighting coming from a 45 degree angle, not over head.\u00a0 Think of a flashlight being held directly over your head when it’s the middle of the day and then hold the flashlight at a 45 degree angle of your face and in front of it just a little, it’s much softer and more flattering.<\/p>\n The second thing for this post is to find open shade.\u00a0 We may get into more advanced topics on changing your camera settings but for now I’m guessing everyone is just using auto mode so I’m helping you use that mode to the best.\u00a0 Auto mode on your camera will work wonderfully in open shade or shady areas of your yard\/park\/favorite outdoor location.\u00a0 Open shade can be the shade of a tree, building, porch or other structure where your kids are standing\/playing\/sitting in shade while still allowing plenty of sunlight to illuminate your kids.\u00a0 When outside using the shade of trees the one thing you have to watch out for is sun spots filtering through trees and hitting your kids on the head or face, try to move them around so that there are no sun spots on them since they can ruin your images.\u00a0 Also at this point in your learning make sure there is not any sun coming in from behind your kids.\u00a0 Keep them under or near a few trees so that there is a lot of shade behind the tree as well.\u00a0 See the illustrations below that I drew to help you understand with a visual.\u00a0 Don’t mind the stick people.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.meridithdesmondphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tip-2-791x1024.jpg\" "\\"tip"){kind=spacer}
When it’s cloudy or overcast you do have more options as there is more shade available to you.\u00a0 The more you take photos and practice the more you will be able to see the direction the light is coming from.\u00a0 If you have someone who is willing to be a test model(or if you can bribe your child with chocolate), I suggest to take them outside and take some test shots all over your yard.\u00a0 Try them facing different directions, in different locations and at different times of the day.\u00a0 This will help you learn and it’s fun!<\/p>\n