I took more than 500 pictures during our recent trip to Hawaii and as I went through them the other day I noticed an interesting (translation: distracting) trend among them. In many of the shots my 3-year-old daughter is looking everywhere BUT the camera. And it’s not just in the photos I snapped—she’s looking away from the camera at nearly every attraction we visited. Luckily, I am a snap happy parent who takes more than one shot of each pose so I walked away with some real winners, but the trend did get me thinking about a photo subject’s way of looking toward or away from the camera. To me it’s very important because one of the first things anyone notices about another person is his or her eyes.
A person’s eyes can grab one’s attention and often speaks volumes for his personality without him having to say a single word. Because of this, nothing has more influence over the mood of a photo.
Take a look a your favorite portraits. What draws you to the shot? In my favorite pictures my photo subject’s eyes help tell a story or convey an essential message. I’ll admit I do prefer when my photo subject is looking at the camera because to me it illustrates a stronger sense of involvement since there is no question that the subject is aware of the camera. However, a great picture does not rely solely on the subject looking directly at the camera. I have many framed shots where my daughter is looking away from the camera (but not at her right sandal, a broken fingernail, or mound of sand as seen in my aforementioned vacation photos) many of which were snapped spontaneously. To me there is nothing more rewarding than capturing a shot where the subject is caught in a private thought or is mesmerized by something outside the picture frame.
Another frameworthy pose it to have your subjects turn their faces away from the camera, and only look back at it with their eyes. This can create a balance between a traditional and non-traditional shot.
How many of your favorite shots don’t include your subject looking directly at the camera?
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Photography Lessons: The Rule of Thirds
Telling A Story With Your Shots
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Common Sense Tips To Capturing Frame-Worthy Pictures