Photography Tips: Photographing Eyes
In photos I am very drawn subject's eyes. They are the window to the soul and I like for them to stand out. When photographing Kaylee I focus on her eyes since that is the first thing people notice when looking at a photograph. It also give the illusion that she has nice big sparkly eyes.
The best way to get your child's attention is hold a toy that he/she has not seen yet. It can even be your makeup brush or whatever you find in your purse. (The camera lens always does the trick-if that doesn't work, I seriously hold up our Yorkie while taking her photos..true story) Kids are so curious with new things. The younger ones love anything that make a noise.
Shooting for the shallow depth of field is usually around f/1.4-2.0. It allows me to focus on the sharpness of her eyes while give that nice soft blur around her face and background.
When shooting outdoor, the best way to catchlight is to have your subjects look up. You can achieve just right lighting in their eyes when you are above your subject.
With the right setting, next step is to bring it into photoshop or lightroom to do little editing. Editing is very fast for me, I sharpen the eyes and add some light around the face.
Hope you like these little tips, should I start doing more photography tips? Let me know! Thanks for visiting!
To get the eyes to be crisp and clear, make sure you have a lot natural lighting available. If you are indoor make sure to place your subject by a window. I am very fortunately to have a big window in our master bedroom. I take all of Kaylee's room in there and have her look 45 degree angle toward the window. Using a reflector would also bounce a lot of light into the subject's eyes.
Before Kaylee could sit up I use a white towel as a back drop so it can catch a little light from the window.
The best way to get your child's attention is hold a toy that he/she has not seen yet. It can even be your makeup brush or whatever you find in your purse. (The camera lens always does the trick-if that doesn't work, I seriously hold up our Yorkie while taking her photos..true story) Kids are so curious with new things. The younger ones love anything that make a noise.
Shooting for the shallow depth of field is usually around f/1.4-2.0. It allows me to focus on the sharpness of her eyes while give that nice soft blur around her face and background.
When shooting outdoor, the best way to catchlight is to have your subjects look up. You can achieve just right lighting in their eyes when you are above your subject.
Hope you like these little tips, should I start doing more photography tips? Let me know! Thanks for visiting!
Yes, more photography tips! And you do GREAT at getting sharp eyes and catch lights! Doesn't hurt that Kaylee has the biggest baby eyes and are sooo cute. You held up your Yorkie, that's hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you use reflectors at all??? I hardly get catch lights in J's eyes. Don't know if it's because his eyes are too small to see them ;).
ReplyDeleteLove your photography tips, please please do more. I like how you recommend finding a focus point. These tips are really great. I am still trying to figure out all these lighting, angle, iso, aperture, manual focus, exposure. My photos always come out blurred when in manual mode :( It is more difficult to capture photos of moving subjects of active kid. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see more photography tips! I loved this one. Going to have to show it to my fiance/photographer! And such beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteLove your photography tips. You do such a great job on capturing her sparkly eyes. I can almost see a reflection of you in her eyes. I'm saving this for the future when I saved enough to get a DSLR.
ReplyDeleteLove that you posted this it's always great getting good tips from photographers you love (yes you) :)
ReplyDeleteUm, every time I see a picture of Kaylee, I just melt. Can she be any cuter? Oh wait, yes she can. Great tips, but really all I could focus on were these adorable pictures. :)
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
This is great! Thanks Yvonne!
ReplyDeletethese photos are ADORABLE and great tips.. i actually shoot as well sometimes but i do focus more on video. great blog!!
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wewearthings
Love this tutorial Yvonne! You take such amazing photos of your little girl!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing and why I love reading your blog! I am forwarding this to my hubby who does the photography for me. . also great tips for baby photography. I have a tough time taking pics of Grant - when they are small it's hard to position them well.
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I see that you and Lisa are blog friends because if you weren't I was going to suggest the two of you visit each other's blogs. Very informative and I will definitely show this post to my Mom. I've small asian eyes so any tips are always welcome!
ReplyDeleteyes please :-) Id love to learn how you sharpen the eyes with lightroom?
ReplyDeleteThey are all SO fantastic Yvonne! Yes, please continue to share photo tips :: I have written down all of you ISO reco's.
ReplyDeleteTell me...what do you think of online photog classes? It's tough for me to get away with Ava but I really want to get better.
Thank you for the tips... you take beautiful pictures, and I was taking notes the whole time! Keep the tips coming :) and new shots of your cutie!
ReplyDeletexx
Here&Now
yes!! more tips please! i really need to put more effort into editing A's photos~!! but i would love to learn how to do it in LR or photoshop!
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