Practice Your Photography Skills at the Park

Thank goodness the warm weather is getting a bit more consistent! This means more opportunities to get outside and enjoy some of our parks here on Chicago’s NorthShore.! It's also a great time to grab some pictures of the kids and practice some of our photography skills.  Here are a few things to try out when at the park!

COMPOSITION AND FRAMING: The way you choose to compose a shot will impact and strengthen your image. The park has many geometric features that are perfect for creating framing opportunities. Try and find a unique perspective and shoot from underneath your children as they climb and swing! Look for opportunities to fill your frame with the sky, giving you a simple and clean background. 

NATURAL & GENUINE EXPRESSIONS: They key to this is getting them to relax and forget about the camera. Having kids involved in something they enjoy, such as a trip to the park makes them relaxed and they will be sporting excited expressions throughout the stay.  Don’t go for a posed smile, get them sliding down the slide, chasing their sibling, hanging upside down on the monkey bars or spinning on a merry-go-round

CAPTURE THE STORY: When using photography to tell a story, you want to include a variety of shots.  You should have some wide angle shots that are taken from a distance to show the entire park, a little closer to capture a specific section or piece of equipment and some close ups of details that will add to the mood, excitement, and memories of the outing.  

LIGHT: If it is a bright sunny day, you might be there during midday.  This will create some bright images with saturated color and contrast. However, this can also be a hard light to capture a flattering portrait.  Try and save the portrait shots for a shaded area of the park (near a tree or the shadow of a piece of equipment). Try and position yourself so that the sun will be at your child’s back.  This should help to even out the light illuminating their face and avoid harsh shadows.