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back to school beginning photography tips holidays photography posing tips
August 28, 2013

the secret to a better portrait {how to take school photos at home!}

My oldest starts seventh grade this year and I have never purchased school pictures for any of my kids. I sometimes will buy the class photo for them, but I have no interest in paying exhorbitant prices for a school snapshot of them with messy hair and a cheesy smile. Instead I spent about ten minutes per child in my own home taking yearly photos that look loads better than the school pics and cost me almost nothing. You can do this too, even if you only shoot on AUTO. There are just two things you need for a great portrait: a plain background and good light. Keep reading to learn how you can take great portraits of your kids at home.

Learn how easy it is to take gorgeous portraits of your children in your own home, and stop spending so much money on yearly school pictures!

 

I’ve talked about backgrounds before. For a school picture type photo I prefer a plain background. You can create an inexpensive DIY backdrop board, use black velvet or another large piece of fabric or blanket, or simply position your child in front of a wall, like I did for the photos in today’s post. This post and this post give even more background ideas.

Today I want to talk a little more about lighting and the HUGE difference it makes in how your photos turn out. In a studio, a photographer has lights that provide the look she or he wants on a photo. Since you and I don’t have lights, we can just use window light instead. But you have to position your subject (the person you are photographing) correctly in relation to the window to get a great photo. Look at these two pictures:

They were both taken on auto, in my kitchen, just a few minutes apart, but there’s a huge difference. The photo on the left is a snapshot: slightly blurry and kind of dark. The photo on the right, however, is a portrait: it’s super crisp and clear and the girl’s eyes sparkle and her skin glows. What made the difference? Where both of us stood in relation to the window (the dominant light in the room – always turn off your overhead light and use window light instead when taking indoor portraits).

The photo above shows our setup for these pictures (and it’s a good reminder than you don’t need a studio to get great headshots!). When I stood away from the window and my daughter looked at me, all the light was coming from behind her, leaving her face and eyes dark in the photo. But when I stood closer to the window and she looked at me she was facing one side of the window (at about a 45-60 degree angle), allowing the light to brighten one side of her face while the other side was softly shadowed, which gives the photo a beautiful amount of light/dark contrast. Photos with lots of light/dark contrast look stunning when converted to black & white:

So pull up and wall and a window and try taking photos at home this year – get better photos and save yourself some cash (which you could in turn donate back to your school!). Check out these posts for a little more info:

For more in-depth discussion of how to position your child toward window, read this post.

Remember that photos taken on auto are often underexposed and need to be brightened, so read this post on how to do that – it’s super easy!

And for more info on a better black and white, check out my post over at eighteen25 today!

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Home » holidays » back to school » the secret to a better portrait {how to take school photos at home!}


23 Comments

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Comments

  1. Brittany says

    August 28, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Love the pic showing where you stood….makin it easy for us!

    Reply
  2. Guillaume says

    August 29, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Hi, very interesting post !
    Note : The link in the setence “And for more info on a better black and white, check out my post over at eighteen25 today!” is incorrect : it refers an article of your blog not eighteen25

    Reply
  3. autumn says

    August 29, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Thanks for letting me know, Guillaume – I got it fixed!

    Reply
  4. Michelle says

    August 30, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Love your posts! Just stumbled across your blog via Bloglovin’ (which I had previously never heard of before!). Will be reading more.

    Reply
  5. hipeeps says

    August 30, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Wow that really helps

    Reply
  6. Marcy @ day2day SuperMom says

    August 30, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Thanks so much for sharing at the TT&J party ~ Pin’d!!

    Reply
  7. Lauren @ Imperfect and Fabulous says

    August 31, 2013 at 12:08 am

    These are great tips! My little one is notoriously hard to get a good photo of so I will definitely be trying out these tips.
    Lauren @ imperfectandfabulous.blogspot.com

    Reply
  8. Cara says

    August 31, 2013 at 12:08 am

    Great photography tips!

    Reply
  9. Monica says

    September 5, 2013 at 12:09 am

    I think my mom readers would love this! Pinned! If you have time, I’d love it if you would link this to Family Fun Friday – we have over 100 bloggers and 600 readers every week. 🙂 Thanks so much! Monica
    http://happyandblessedhome.com/category/family-fun/

    Reply
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  11. sonja says

    November 12, 2013 at 8:31 am

    oh, very helpful. Would love to read some more photographing tips. For example “how to get great party-snapshots” (my problem there:dark light, people dancing etc…..)

    Reply
  12. Tracy T. McWilliams says

    November 28, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    This page really has all the information I needed about this subject and
    didn’t know who to ask.

    Reply
  13. Birgit says

    January 4, 2014 at 4:52 am

    Just discovered your blog and it seems I have some reading to do! Just did a photography workshop (totally new to it), and I think your blog is a great follow up to it!
    Thank you!
    Happy 2014!!!

    Reply
  14. Chris Cox says

    January 7, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    Hello, Autumn! Chris here again. Lovely photos and really good tips! Your daughter is beautiful!
    I just wanted to share some child photography tips too.

    See you,
    Chris

    Reply
  15. Cindy cottle says

    June 12, 2014 at 8:50 am

    How do you achieve the soft smiles? I take a lot of pictures of 4 yr olds in my class for a memory book at the end of the year. They all want to do the cheesy smile.

    Reply
    • autumn says

      June 14, 2014 at 10:17 am

      Yes! That is one of the toughest things about photographing kids that age. I usually ask them to take their smile away, then I either ask them to give me a tiny smile OR I say, “now don’t smile, don’t smile!” and that usually makes them laugh so you end up with a much more genuine smile. I actually have a whole post just about this if you want to check it out: https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2012/08/08/photography-tips-how-to-get-a-great-smile-from-your-toddler.html

      Reply
  16. dawn says

    October 7, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    What kind of lens are you using in this picture of your daughter’s face? I’m thinking of buying the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens and wondered what you thought. I only have the kit lenses so far.

    Reply
  17. big tits says

    November 25, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    I feel this is among the so much significant information for me.
    And i’m happy studying your article. But wanna commentary on few normal issues,
    The website style is ideal, the articles is really excellent :
    D. Good process, cheers

    Reply
  18. Erin says

    December 2, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    I love the amazing information you give! It has helped me in countless ways. May I ask what kind of camera you use?

    Reply
  19. Ridley Fitzgerald says

    July 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    These are some great tips for a good portrait. Lighting is super important, so using the open window and turning off the overhead light is great. When my kids start going to school, I’ll remember this.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. tips for photographing kids {get great photos in your own home} - It's Always Autumn says:
    February 10, 2014 at 6:00 am

    […] Find a room that gets good window light and turn off the overhead lights AND your flash. Read this post and this post for details on where and how to find great light in your […]

    Reply
  2. how to set up a simple DIY home photo studio says:
    March 14, 2014 at 5:09 pm

    […] get to the photos: you WILL NOT get good photos unless you pay attention to the light. Please read this post for an explanation of what you’re looking for when it comes to using natural light inside […]

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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