Sure, you get family photos taken once a year to capture the different stages of your children’s’ lives…but you can’t force kids’ emotions and a photographer obviously isn’t around during daily life when they do the darnedest things. Here is one easy step towards taking better photographs of your children, since you’re there to capture the most true version of themselves! This can be applied no matter what kind of camera you have, whether it’s a DSLR, a point-and-shoot, or a cell phone.
Unless purposely avoided for some artsy reason, the catchlight is possibly the single most important element of portrait photography. It’s the small reflection(s) of the light source in the subject’s eye that gives life to the photo; maybe because it’s what we are subconsciously used to seeing as light bounces off each others’ eyes. Listed below are some more specifics about how to capture the catchlight, but in general it is incredibly simple to achieve.
*Random note: light colored eyes pick up a catchlight much easier. See the two photos below for an example, they were taken in the exact same spot, facing a glass door. You can see it in each of these cuties’ eyes, but Hatcher’s (bottom) catchlight is much stronger.
If you find or create that catchlight, not only will your portraits be brought to life, but your focus will be better as well, improving your overall photography. Best of luck capturing those sweet little faces in these precious times of life!
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