How to compose a good photograph
To stage a shot refers to how a photographer composes a shot. What are the elements the photographer has decided to add to the shot or remove from it, what colours can be added or removed and this list of questions go on.
To make things simple, It basically refers to what a photographer has deliberately decided to add to the shot and what they have deliberately left out from the shot. Easy to understand, right?
Well, understanding and practising this also makes your life easier, because once you have a basic plan of how you want your image to be, all you have to do is to photograph and create it. This means that on the day of the shoot you aren't going to be frantically running around adding and removing elements from the image, to see what works well. Especially when you are working with children, because they are not going to wait for you.
Staging a shot doesn't necessarily have to be complicated. It can be as simple as using a child's favourite toy (but one that goes with the context of your image) because we are sure it will elicit a nice expression photography-worthy moments.
Similarly, there are many other elements that you can use in an image to tell a story or capture a moment.
That's why I have created a tiny checklist consisting of questions below to help you decide or brainstorm on how you can successfully compose images for your clients.
1) The location of the shoot - will this be at a studio, outdoors or on client-location? Doing a recce before the shoot will help you understand how to use the space. I can spot frames instantly when I look around and this only came with experience of doing multiple shoots in great, good and not-so-good location choices I made.
2) What is the colour palette I am going to use for this shot or this whole shoot? - Sometimes clients have certain colours they would like to use. So try to work around their inputs, while giving them suggestions on what will look good together and what may take away from their expressions. Avoid loud colours that will take away from the tiny child in your frame.
3) What accessories can you add to the shot? - A headband or a wreath or maybe even create a prop setup.
A setup is to typically portray a story. It could be a hat that a mom can hold on to or textured layers they can wear, which add a lot of value. Always keep in mind that children can have allergies especially when using flowers or edibles. So do check with the parents on these things.
4) What can you do to elicit a certain response from the child? - Always think about WHAT you can say to make them laugh or the situations that you can put them in to get the shot you want. We share over 50 different ideas on this in our Prompt cards product available here, to elicit the most natural reactions you'd want.
Composition is just one of the 11 topics dealt with in detail in our upcoming LEVEL UP workshop starting this July 13th, 2020. In case you wish to sign up for this Comprehensive Online Child photography workshop, click here
I really hope this was helpful to all the photographers and aspiring photographers out there. Do let me know in the comments sections below if this was useful for you and what type of content you would like to see from me.
Till then, keep creating!
