Maybe you're not Annie Leibovitz, but with a camera in your hands and the holidays approaching, in your mind's eye, you're every bit as good. Just as you can easily envision a golden roasted bird displayed perfectly on the holiday table, you can see yourself snapping classic family portraits and candids that New York City gallery owners beg to display as larger-than-life-size prints.
No matter how many holidays come and go, the vision never changes. But as with most dreams, there's the inevitable reality check; in most cases, the reality check is the moment that the pictures appear on the LCD or computer, or as you review the prints from the photo lab. If you're like most self-appointed family photographers, your family holiday pictures can elicit responses ranging from delighted self-congratulations to heart-sinking disappointment. And unlike professional portrait photographers, you can't simply go back and re-shoot. With family holiday pictures, there's only one chance to capture the moment.
The five-second rule
If you're determined this year to minimize the gap between your vision and reality, try the simple "five-second rule to better pictures." Created by professional photographer, Robert Lane, owner and creator of Photos in a Flash.com and Lane Photographic.com, this rule may not get your holiday pictures into a New York gallery, but it will help you come closer to making your photographic visions a reality.
Stated simply, the five-second rule works thusly: Before you press the shutter release button, pause five seconds to ask yourself, "Is there is anything I can do to make the picture better?" nine times out of ten there is something you can do, and in most cases the five seconds gives you time to scan the situation and make improvements.
To get into the spirit of the rule, Lane suggests counting aloud: "One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three," and so on. As you count, look at everything in the viewfinder, critically evaluating the subject and the surroundings.
While you count off those five seconds, use Lane's four-point photo checklist. Think of the acronym S.L.I.C.E. as a handy mnemonic for the following points.
Subject: Determine what your true subject is. Example: is it the object or the person standing in front of the object?
Light: Is there too little or too much light? Do you need to use the flash? Is the sun directly in the eyes, causing the subject to squint? Can you change or add to the light?
Composition: What is behind, in front of, and around the subject? How can you compose properly to remove distractions and too much open space? Do you have time to either move yourself or the subject to attain a better framing position?
Exposure: Is shutter speed a factor? Is the camera setting a shutter speed slower than 1/30th? Can you use shutter speed creatively? If you can't control these functions on your camera, can you make adjustments in light or composition to make up for the lack of control?
1. Subject
The first guideline in any photo is to clearly define the subject. While this sounds simple, think about the pictures you've seen that include a person or group, along with all the living room furniture, the television, and perhaps tables cluttered with half-empty drinking glasses. When other people view these kinds of images, their eyes wander around the image searching for the main subject.
Part of the problem in pictures such as this is the camera-to-subject distance. Lane says, "The single biggest mistake I see in the pictures that people take of friends and family is that [the photographer] is too far away from the subject."
While it is a common tendency to "keep your distance," Lane suggests that a good way to overcome this tendency is to teach yourself to see photographically. "The camera sees with one lens, not two, so to get a proper perspective, cover one eye," he suggests. With one eye covered, "you see the subject the way the camera lens sees it-as a monoscopic image." As you look at the subject through the camera viewfinder move in closer, move to the side, and otherwise change your position to find the best way to photograph the subject.
Another part of the problem with cluttered photos is the desire to include too much in the image. For example, during the holidays, people want to take pictures of family within the context of the decorations and festivities. In these scenarios, Lane suggests that you ask yourself which element you want as the subject of the picture: the people or the decorations. If you want the people as the subject, have the tree in the background to provide the seasonal context, but not as an element that competes with the people for attention.
As a rule of thumb, Lane suggests that the subject should fill the frame. "You don't have to move 10-12 feet away from the tree to get both the tree and the people in the picture," he says. "If you have a zoom lens, you can use it to get closer, or you can have the people move closer to the camera and have the tree in the background, or you can physically move closer to everything-fill the viewfinder frame with the true subject material."
2. Light
Whether you're taking holiday pictures outside or inside, consider using a flash. In bright outdoor light, a flash can fill in harsh shadows. And, of course, indoors, flash can give you the light necessary to get a sharp image.
If you're shooting outdoors, Lane advises holiday photographers to ignore the old wives' tale of having subjects face the sun. Instead he recommends positioning subjects so that the sun is behind them, and then using the camera's fill-flash feature or the on-camera flash to fill shadows and create a natural appearance. Positioning subjects with the sunlight behind them provides an attractive "rim light" around the subjects which gives the subject a nice visual "snap," Lane says.
Using a flash, however, poses two well-known and annoying problems: overexposure and red-eye. Lane has suggestions for avoiding or reducing both problems.
Avoiding overexposure If you're using an SLR, most flash units allow you to vary the power of the flash. Lane suggests that if the camera doesn't have an automatic fill-flash reduction feature, dial down the flash power by a couple of f-stops to avoid overwhelming the subject with light. If you cannot vary the flash power, then you can diffuse it. Lane suggests diffusing the flash with an inexpensive attachable diffuser sold at most camera stores. The preferred option (if the flash head can pivot or swing up) for indoor pictures is to bounce the flash off a ceiling or wall.
If you're using a disposable or point-and-shoot camera, Lane suggests using a homemade diffuser, which can be something as simple as a piece of single-ply facial tissue. Then place the tissue over the flash, keeping it away from the lens and viewfinder (see example photos).
"The tissue will act as a natural diffuser for the pocket camera flashes, and it does a great job for skin tones on close-up work," Lane says. "Of course, for distance work, it won't make any difference whatsoever."
Reducing red eye The second problem is red eye. Red eye is inherent, Lane says, because the lens is very close to the flash unit. Most new pocket cameras have a red-eye reduction feature that fires either a lower-power pre-flash from the flash unit or an auxiliary unit before the main flash fires. This pre-flash helps close down the iris of the subject's eye, which reduces but does not eliminate the appearance of red eye in the picture.
"But the key point to remember is that this technology is 'reduction only' and not elimination," Lane emphasizes. "In most situations, there is no way to completely eliminate red eye with a pocket camera."
Most SLR cameras do not have the same problem as compact and disposable cameras because there is more distance between the on-camera flash unit and the lens. However, Lane cautions that SLRs that feature pop-up flashes near the hot shoe area of the camera often have the same red-eye problems as pocket cameras because the flash is close to the center line of the lens.
In addition to using the camera's red-eye reduction feature, Lane also suggests turning on more household lights, and turning the subject to face the light-both of which will help the iris close down slightly more before the picture is taken.
Avoiding shadows As a final tip for using a flash, Lane says you can avoid the harsh shadows associated with flash pictures by moving the subject far away from flat surfaces such as walls when possible. However, if you cannot move the subject far away from a wall, for example, you can vary your angle to the subject by moving to the side so that you're shooting at an angle to the wall. Or try getting above the subject by standing up or standing on a chair and shooting down. "This will lessen the shadows and create a more interesting angle," adds the photographer.
3. Composition
As you compose the image, be aware of everything that surrounds the subject. Beyond the obvious advice to avoid clutter and to avoid objects that appear to grow out of the back of the subject's head, Lane advises photographers to watch for lines and objects that can lead the viewer's eye away from the subject. He also suggests avoiding "dead space" around the subject that serves no purpose.
This advice is easy enough to follow when taking pictures of individuals, but it becomes more difficult when taking pictures of groups because group pictures require a wider-angle lens or setting. Lane explains, "Because you are forced to use a lens perspective that naturally brings in more foreground and background, you have to be especially aware of what is physically around your subject and ask if it will compete with or distract from the subject."
To avoid the distraction of surrounding objects, Lane suggests changing your shooting position or moving objects out of view. In some cases where space is limited, or in some candid shots, it may not be possible to change the surroundings. If you have a telephoto lens or telephoto zoom setting on your pocket camera, Lane suggests using the telephoto setting or lens combined with a wide aperture (say, f/4, f/2.8, or f/2.0) to help blur the background and concentrate attention on the subject.
And if changing position, using a telephoto lens, or moving closer is not possible, don't hesitate to take the picture anyway. Many distractions can be cleaned up later when the image is edited on the computer or by your photo finishing lab, Lane adds.
In-camera cropping Composition also includes in-camera cropping. As he frames pictures, Lane is always aware of "where things begin and end." He understands that the human eye wants to see a person's arms, legs, fingers, and feet "in a natural pose and in natural places."
Lane explains, "If you crop someone's leg at the knee or an arm at the elbow, or any other joint, it gives the viewer the unnatural sense that the appendage has been cut off." To avoid this, Lane says to "frame a person so that limbs are cropped in the middle between joints, rather than at a joint, so that it becomes a sort of natural end for the appendage."
4. Exposure
Who hasn't trashed a holiday picture because the image wasn't sharp? Camera shake often results from hand-holding the camera at slower (30-seconds or slower) shutter speeds or from subject movement. The trick to avoiding the blur from such camera shake is to ensure that the shutter speed is 1/30th sec. or faster. To achieve this shutter speed, Lane suggests using faster films in the ISO 400 to 800 ranges. "You can buy 1000-speed film, but as soon as you start to enlarge it, it gets very grainy," Lane explains. "So 400-800 speed film is the fastest film I recommend for any portraiture."
With digital cameras, changing the ISO setting changes the algorithm in the camera so the effect of the change is not as dramatic as it is with using fast films, Lane continues. By switching to a faster ISO setting, Lane says, "You introduce more noise into the image, but it is not nearly as bad as the additional grain that comes from the higher speed film; so you have more room to move in either direction."
Of course, other options include using a tripod for still subjects and using an external or on-board flash to avoid blur with both moving and stationary subjects.
Additional tips
From his years of experience, Lane offers the following additional advice for holiday photographers.
Putting people at ease Lane says the best antidote to camera anxiety is a simple joke or casual conversation. If you are lousy at telling jokes, ask simple questions. "Just talk to the subjects," he advises. "Tell them what you want to take pictures of, or just talk to them-a little discussion will take the edge off their discomfort."
The second sure-fire method is to tell the subject to take a deep breath, and then exhale. "A deep breath and a relaxing sigh do a lot to get people to relax," Lane says.
Give people direction Another way to work with put such people at ease is to tell them how to model. "Tell them how you want them to pose, where to sit, and when to smile," Lane suggests.
Get a natural smile From his years of experience, Lane knows that when you tell people to smile, the smile will be exaggerated and unnatural. "To get a nice smile," the photographer says, "tell the subject to smile and hold it for a couple of seconds. Within those few seconds, the smile will slowly diminish and come down to a more natural smile."
For variety If you want to vary from the traditional holiday snaps, try taking photos outdoors with a flash. Lane suggests getting the family outside just before or just after sunset and using the flash to get both an interesting mix of light and motion.
For holiday tree and family images, Lane suggests turning out the household lights except for the holiday tree lights. Then sit the family next to the tree and add some candlelight opposite them. Tell the family to sit very still. Then set the camera to a long exposure, say 1/10 sec. to 2 seconds, and during the last part of the exposure, fire the flash. "The mixed lighting along with the slight blur from the people not being able to be rock steady and the flash will produce a halo-like blur and give an ethereal look to the image while maintaining a tinge of sharpness."
More Tips for Better Holiday Photos
Vision versus reality With the five-second rule, chances are great that you'll get better holiday pictures this year than last year. Lane suggests spending some time before the festivities to begin training yourself to do the five-second checklist. "The more you practice and train your photographic eye, the easier it will be to spot things that you can quickly change to make the picture better."
About Robert Lane Lane's interest in photography began when he was a child learning from a friend's father who was a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) photographer. After learning the basics of photography, Lane continued to experiment with photography as he grew older and even shot for his high school yearbook.
Lane's professional career began with a move to New York City in 1984 where he established himself as a headshot photographer by taking portraits of Broadway performers. His reputation grew, and he was soon assisting leading fashion photographers in Manhattan.
Within a year, Lane struck out on his own as a commercial print and fashion photographer. Today, Lane, who recently converted to fully digital photography, lives in Scottsdale, Arizona where he maintains Photos in a Flash a one-day classroom seminar designed for beginning to advanced amateur photographers and Lane Photographic, a commercial print and mobile portraiture company.