Portrait photography is of course not only about studio photos. You kan make just as good – and often even better – photos, if you take your camera outside or go to the home, where the children live. The child is more relaxed in it’s own home and you will be able to catch more natural looking photos. And you don’t need to bring a lot of equipment. Although I have a complete mobile studio setup, I rarely use much of it, when I make photos on location.
There are two things you should remember when doing photos on location with simple tools.
The first thing is that you must remember to light the face properly – nothing spoils a portrait more than a dull, dark face. Use a reflector for natural light, a flash pointed to a white ceiling to spread the light or a single umbrella or softbox to give a diffused light. Or simply use a very low f-value and high ISO to use the available light, and blur or even burn out the background.
The second thing – and equally important – you must avoid strong shadows on the subject. Usually this applies to the background too – a strong silhoutte shadow cast of the subject on the background isn’t that appealing. A properly diffused light will help you with this, and so will the use of a reflector.
With these two things in mind, you can make brilliant portraits anywhere. In the living room, the child’s room, in the garden, the staircase – you name it. The portrait below was taken on the kitchen floor. In the album you can find other portraits taken in different parts of ordinary homes.
