There are many ways to photograph your family and kids. It’s hard to say which is the best, but sure thing among the worst is to only capture the “cheese” facing the camera. Over and over again! I’m sure when you narrate your travel stories with family and friends, you have something far juicier than just the fake smiles.

Here’s a simple formula you can try. Pick any spot or activity you like, try to take the following 5 photos from different shooting angles and positioning of your subject. Repeat this exercise in different places. See if this can help you create a different or more versatile collection of travel stories.

1 - Eye level

probably the most obvious shooting angle.

2 - Look up

Pointing your camera up gives you an interesting perspective when someone is looking down, or in front of a tall tree, a tall building. You can also just use the sky as a clean background.

3 - Look down

You can look down and photograph your kids or someone looking up, flowers, something interesting on the ground, or even your shoes.

4 - Off-center

Most of the time, we naturally put the person, or our main subject somewhere in the middle of the frame. Try to break the habit and put the main subject in the corner, but keep an eye on the balance of your photo content. You probably heard of one third rule. But who said it had to be 1/3 but not 1/4 or 1/5? As long as you achieve the balance, the proportion is less important.

5 - Close-up

You can just focus on your subject’s face or head, and practice less is more.

I’ve shown two sets of 5 angles above, taken exactly on the same forest hike in Olympic National Park, Washington. Hope it gives you an idea how to visually tell your own stories.

Go back to Composition Tips Chapter

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