Sunday, June 19, 2016

Motor drives not only for shooting sports



I've said this in the past but it bears repeating. Setting your camera to its fastest, automatic setting in order to capture a short burst of pictures is frequently a good idea. I used the term motor drive in the title for this post but any fast firing, automatic setting is often better than simply squeezing off individual pictures.

Babies don't move a lot. They stay put -- unless they fall over. That said, babies do stuff and they do it quickly and often for just a moment. If your point and shoot suffers from even a little shutter-lag, you may well miss the moment.

My old Canon S90 can take quick bursts of pictures. I time my bursts with the anticipated action but there is still some luck involved. That said, if I tried capturing the baby's smile without using the series-taking approach, it would be a lot of bad luck that would be involved.
  • To create catchlights in eyes, face the baby towards a window. 
  • Try and shoot from the same level as the child. Don't shoot down.
  • Soft light is better than harsh, strong, directional light.
  • Try not to use very wide angle lens. Zoom out a little. 
  • Keep a little distance between you and the baby.

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