There are many qualities that continually set apart a professional, sought-after professional photographer from the competition. But one very important quality is the ability to see important, story-telling details in a scene.
So why is it important to take photographs of details? Because it allows the person viewing the finished photo to tell their own story and complete the whole picture. When we see a photo of a person’s face, not much else is left to the imagination. We already know exactly what that person looks like, how old they are, what kind of smile they have, etc. But when we see a pair of tiny feet splashing through a puddle, or see wrinkled hands holding an old book, our mind immediately begins to imagine and expand the story. We can imagine that the feet belong to a strong-willed, carefree child, breaking free from the indoors to enjoy the puddles outside. Or we can image that the hands belong to a great-grandmother who has served many people over the years.
As with any photo, there’s no one right way to take detail shots. But there are a few tricks to keep in mind to get the best photo possible and stretch your creativity.
- Get in as close as your lens will allow. Many professional photographers will invest in wide-angle or macro lenses in order to take great detail shots. These types of lenses allow you to get in really close and get amazing detail and clarity.
- Consider your angle. For example, I love to take pictures of feet but will oftentimes struggle with the angle of the shot. Do I have the person stand or sit? Do I take the picture from above or at ground level? Do I take it from the side or the front? Consider what the most interesting, story-telling angle will be and then try several different ones. There’s no reason to commit yourself to just one particular angle.
- Let your subject be natural, especially when photographing kids. A lot of times I want to get a shot of my kids running and playing, and usually that’s not a hard thing to do when I’m taking a photo of the whole scene. But when I want a photo of little feet running, or busy hands playing, then that movement is hard to freeze. Just make sure you’re using a lot of natural light and a fast shutter speed, and keep on trying until you get the right shot.
- Learn to see details, even without your camera. Many times I’ll watch a person doing something and think, “Wow, I love how her hands move as she knits,” or, “Look how tiny his feet are next to mine.” Everyone notices those types of things, but not everyone thinks to capture those moments with a photo. Try to always keep your camera close by and ready to go so that when those precious fleeting moments arise, you’re able to take a picture before the moment is gone.
Want to see more of Elisha’s work? Check her out on Instagram at @elishasnowphotography or her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/elishasnowphotography
GIVEAWAY – DAY 8!!!
As we continue into the second week of celebrating all our industry partners, we are thrilled to be featuring Lawn Fawn today! We adore their very creative coordinating stamps and dies not to mention their sweet paper collections, ink pads, twine and more! Armed with a very talented design team, Lawn Fawn continues create beautiful products and inspiration you'll want to check out! And today, maybe you could win some!
Our sweet friends at Lawn Fawn loved that they were featuring them today and have provided this very lovely prize to thank YOU, the SCT reader, for all your support! It's take a village right? Look at today's giveaway…
How sweet are these fish and THAT crab?! For an opportunity to win today's prize, be sure to leave a comment below by September 2nd! Winners will be randomly selected and announced on September 4th. Good luck!
Once you've left your comment, we would love it also if you could take a moment to tank our friends at Lawn Fawn (pun intended!) on their facebook page HERE. All our partners have loved hearing from you!!! You can also find Lawn Fawn:
On their website: Lawn Fawn
On their blog: Lawn Fawn
On Facebook: Lawn Fawn
On Pinterest: Lawn Fawn
On Instagram: @lawnfawn
On YouTube: Lawn Fawn
So you have our full permission to drop what you're doing (unless you're holding a child or eggs!) and spend some time checking out Lawn Fawn. We're pretty confident it will make you'll feel inspired to create a sweet card or project today!
~ Catherine, Publisher, Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine
I love the stamp set and matching – Tank you to Lawn Fawn for this opportunity!
Awesome! I love Lawn Fawn. Thanks for the chance to win. :D
Very nice prize from Lawn Fawn. Thanks so much for the chance to win this giveaway.
Great photography advice and love Lawn Fawn!
I love Lawn Fawn and all of their products! Thanks for sharing!!
Wonderful tips for
taking photos! Love
this fun stamp and
matching die set
from Lawn Fawn.
Carla from Utah
Lawn Fawn is one of my favorites! They design the cutest products!
That fish bowl is one of my favorites.
Tank you for a chance to win some wonderful Lawn Fawn.
The pictures are wonderful. Love the hands of the elderly couple.
Good ideas in the commentary.
tanks again.
Lawn Fawn is one of my favortie stamp companies. Feels like I have all their sets (Which is not true, of course :D )
Great photographt advice. Thank you. I LOVE Lawn Fawn and all their lovely products. Especially love the great giveaway. I just love fish. I thanked Lawn Fawn on Facebook and I follow all their sites. Thank you SCT for a chance at a great giveaway!
Lawn Fawn has the cutest stamp sets! I love their adorable characters and the fun sayings! The ‘tank you’card is precious! Would LOVE to win this awesome prize!!! ‘Tank you’ Lawn Fawn and SCT for this super giveaway!
What a great post. Thanks for the photo tips and thanks for the wonderful giveaway!
Please accept my thanks SCT for an amazing magazine, blog and you tube videos. You are the best at showcasing companies who specialize in helping us be creative. Lawn Fawn is one of my favorites.
Beautiful photos.. Thanks for the tips.. I struggle to get a decent picture.. Thank you for the giveaway
‘Tank you’ Elisha Snow, Lawn Fawn and SCT for this super giveaway! Great tips on tricks to get the right subjects photo especialy children , they do not stay little for long .
I love Lawn Fawn – thank you for the chance to win! Have a nice day :)
LOVE these photo tips and am going to try to put them to use over the next couple days while my granddaughter is with us!
I am “fishing” that she will give me lots of unexpected photo ops!
LOVE today’s prize package and would use these to make cards for kids that are in the hospital! Thanks for the chance to be a winner every day this month!!
I love the little hermit crab!
Thanks for all the photo pointers.
I love Lawn Fawn stamps!! Thank you for the chance to win! I also love the photo tips!! I will be trying a few of those!
Thank you for those great photography tips! I love the way these photos zero in on the details and yet still evoke a mood. As for the Lawn Fawn prize….oh my! I just love Lawn Fawn and those stamps and dies are so adorable and fun!
Nobody does cute like Lawn Fawn and this set is so clever!!!
This set would Go fin-tastic
with our little mermaid .layout .
This Lawn Farm combo has been on my wishlist. Thank you for the prize chance.
What fun stamps and tips!
Love these photography tips–I always struggle with taking great pictures! Today’s giveaway is awesome–lawn Fawn always has such cute products! thanks for the chance!
Your photos are beautiful. I always try to catch the little things too when possible. Thank you Lawn Fawn for your fun stamp and die sets. They are adorable.
Lawn Fawn has the cutest things! Just Fintastic! Tanks so much!!! LOL
Oh do I love this cute little Lawn Fawn set. I always wanted fish and an aquarium when I was little but the fish never lasted…so sad. If I had this Lawn Fawn set my fish and aquarium would last forever! I also loved all the fun photo tips because I have 2 little girls who are my favorite subjects. Thanks for the chance to win
Thanks for the photo tips :) And thanks too to Lawn Fawn for the fab giveaway!
I can certainly use all the photography tips I can get! Thanks!
ADORABLE DIE/STAMP SET!
LOVING THE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS TOO!
Love Lawn Fawn
I have several lawn fawn stamps but i need this one too
Lawn Fawn is great. I love how well their dies work and this set is adorable. Thanks for the photography post, too. Good food for thought.
I love Lawn Fawn. Their stamp and die sets are so darn cute!
Darling stamp set. I love the little fishies!
Lawn Fawn is my most favourite stamp company. I have been coveting the Fintastic Friends set for a while now, I would be more than thrilled to win one of the cutest sets they have ever made! Thanks for the chance to win, Lawn Fawn ROCKS!!!
I just love Lawn Fawn products – it would be fintastic if i won this set.
Love love the stamp die sets!!!
How incredibly adorable is this set? So cute! Thanks for the chance to win!
What a great prize! I know exactly who I would give a card like that to.
I love any stamp set with sea animals. Cute set to work with !! I have a 7 month old Granddaughter who made the cutest mermaid in a photo shoot last week in Galveston, Texas. Great tools to make a wonderful scrapbook layout.
I love lawn fawn and follow they all over they place. Tanks for the chance to win this awesome prize.
Detail shots are so cute with little kids but the tweens that’s all you can get sometimes. They go from camera shy to camera surly at that age.
I love Lawn Fawn and have preordered several sets, this one is adorable
Like your products.
Thank you for the photo tips and the chance to win this great stamp set and dies!!
hello.. love this set
Lawn Fawn has such cute stamps and dies! This fish is perfect for our fishing adventures at the cottage! Love the photo tips!
Great photography tips, and that stamp set is adorable! Thanks for the chance!