A few people have asked about our black and white photos. Well, Creating Keepsakes typed up all the explanation for me looks like. This article at their site gives you the info you need to begin playing around with in-home portraits. Twopeas has another tutorial. And more portrait tips. Point and shoot tips explain why you don’t need an expensive camera.

The best advice remains the same:

Light.  Turn off the automatic flash. A caveat there would be if you have a deflector. They bounce the flash away from the subject and don’t leave those cheesey shadows. Otherwise, turn it off. ; )  Find strong natural light. Remember the quality of the light differs based on the time of day and the weather. For black and white portraits I prefer an overcast day and a bright window. Late afternoon sun will give a golden glow to the subject whereas earlier in the day it will be whiter. Light coming from the side is best.

Steady yourself. Most bad shots are the result of poor light and too much ‘shake’. Modern cameras often compensate for shake but it still pays to get as still as possible. A tripod is worth its weight in gold if you are trying to get a professional looking shot. It keeps the camera very still thus minimizing blur. Keeping the children still is another story….

Frame your shot. Closer is better. (You can see the difference in the two pics at left.) Use that zoom but if you have both digital and optical zoom on your camera stick to the optical. The digital zoom feature doesn’t bring the subject closer it just magnifies the image digitally. Remember you don’t need to see the whole outline of your subject. Parts of the head are often nicer than a mug shot.

On that note, try different angles – standing on a chair and pointing down or getting down to eye level with the baby on the floor. Turn your subject so they are facing your shoulder rather than your face.

Play around with the settings. Try the same shot in automatic, closeup, portrait, and so on making notes as you go. Then review the images and see which you like best. This really helps you get to know your camera.

Finally, if you have a digital camera, play around with your photo-editing software. I am techno-challenged but I figured out a few critical functions from even the most basic programs. Cropping your pics can save a poorly positioned shot. The ‘saturate’ function makes your pics either black and white or super richly colored depending upon which way you move the cursor. And, bless him, Asher taught me how to use the lasso tool to outline the subject and then black (or white) out the background(below). This gives the same effect as a studio background. Think DK books. : )