it was more of a case of him smiling like a plank as usual and attempting to make sense of my new found freedom and settings with a DSLR.
Fair enough, but that's the point... 'practicing' with settings, 'going manual', you are falling into the trap of looking AT the camera rather than through it... And, the bigger trap of looking at the wrong 'thing' in how to make the photo 'better'.. considering the 'exposure' which wasn't far off, and changing wont do much to improve the results.. while, to make that shot so much 'better' what you might have done is all outside the camera, and away from knobs and buttons and twiddly bits....
'Sat like a Plank'.. yup, that's kids... when you want'em to sit still, they do nowt but fidget, when you want them to do 'something' they sit like a plank! Contrary creatures they is!
BUT, if there' a lesson in this... that's the hint, so much of people pictures is in managing the 'people' not not in setting the camera.*
Like I said, best things to have in the gadget bag for kiddie pictures is not filters or flashes or lenses, BUT bubbles, sweeties, magic-cream and a towel! Involve them, entertain them, ENGAGE with them, draw them into the picture.. Like I said, a soccer ball or comic, some 'prop' that reveals or suggests something about the boy, his interests his character, add hugely to the composition and offer depth and meaning and context.. but YOU have to put it there, or put in the work to include it. Suggestion about the glasses, and 'playing' with them, was something that could have been done, there working with what you had, even if you couldn't pull a soccer ball or Frisbee or comic out of the 'Activity Bag' ...
Divorsed Dad talking here... the 'Activity Bag' was a small school sized sports bag, containing an assortment of portable, bag sized activities, that could be kept in the car, lugged about a park, into a restaurant, carried o a train, or pulled out when visiting friends or family and they were 'bored', ad cat escape to their room to zombifie on X-box! Some indoor activities, some outdoor; some quiet some loud! Some solo some group. There was a soccer ball, and a Frisbee, but daughter rather took to cricket, so a child's cricket set went in it for a while! A kite.. takes up little room and is endless entertainment on a beach or big park.. especially if there's no wind! Indoors, a pack of playing cards is always something, many, things to do! Some small toys; A doll or a car! My son, was, and still is mad about trains! A little plastic battery operated train-set about the size of a dinner plate that cold be set up on a restaurant table, from the pound-shop was in the bag for a very long while! Comics got added to it weekly, and some crayons let them do the puzzles, and some paper, play naughts and crosses or do drawings. An Enid Blyton compendium, offered 'story time' or something for them to read on a train. A packet of biscuits and some sweets, provided a treat or sugar boost when they were getting crabby; the 'magic cream' tended all ills when they fell over or felt hurt; a bottle of pop, is essental to keep them happy and hydrated... and wet wipes to clean them up when accidents inevitably happen! and the 'towel'... invaluable to have when kids are about!
This was the 'preparation' of being a parent, rather than a photographer, BUT that's where you begin; cater for the kids first, and the photo's will follow naturally. Put the photo' an the camera first and you wont get much at all!
But its THERE, outside the camera, engaging with the subject, managing the scene, that 'better' results are most to be found, NOT in faffing with f-stops! Stick the thing an appropriate auto and THEY can pretty much take care of themselves! Its what the cameras good at! Its NOT very good at coping with kids! so let the camera deal with what ts best at, whist you deal with the stuff only you can! This 'Real Photographers Go manual' Makarkie is a lot of, it really is! A-N-D I bet you only 'Go-Manual' as far as the metering... no one seems to say 'Go Manual - turn off the Auto-Focus!" (except perhaps me!) Which is ironic, as the auto metering in most cameras is probably one of the most reliable easements they offer! Auto Focus the least! And making exposure settings manually, you are likely doing nothing the camera wouldn't do for you in appropriate auto-mode, with or without a little exposure compensation. Auto-Focus will NOT focus on thin air to put the DoF where you really want it around your subject and get most front to back sharpness or effect focus isolation, no matter how much you play with the red-dots, it HAS to have something it can triangulate 'range' off!... which is a little off topic 'rant'... but point is DONT be conned into believing its 'all in the camera' and how well you know your f-stops... it just ISN'T! Pay attention to the subject! Pay attention to your composition, manage THAT and don't let the cameras knobs divert your attention from that! That s where you will find the difference between 'nice' pictures and 'great' pictures... not in 1/3 of a stop of exposure difference or a little more shutter and a little less aperture!
* This was a lesson I learned from a fellow student at Photo Class. He was a 'professional' photographer, mostly weddings and events for the local paper. He was, at the time, I suppose in his early fifties, and had been at the job since he left school at 16 and been 'placed' with the local pro by his school science teacher and leader of the school camera club. So I was stunned, he was on a beginners photo course! Eh?!?! WHY you do this for a living! He grinned sheepishly...
"Yeah, but I want to learn how to use a camera!" he said. And elaborated, that starting out as 'assistant' he got a lot of hands on lugging cameras and tripods about, and loading film, and even developing it; BUT when it came to taking photo's 'The Boss' had told him not to worry about all that! He had a 'program'. Three basic 'set ups', for indoor and outdoor shots, with individuals couples ad groups; three focus distances, three apertures and three shutter speeds.. varied ONLY on the shutter by one or two stops depending on 'on the day' incident light meter readings.... that was it. Shot to script; worry about the PEOPLE.. I think I recall Phil, here commenting about the job as being like herding cats! And that was certainly what my fellow student reported! But, as amateurs, indulging our interests and getting 'involved' with photography and discovering these 'fancy cameras' and all the twiddly bits, it's a trap we can easily fall into, thinking that that is where the 'job' is at; playing with the camera, NOT in what we are pointing the camera at, and coping with those people we want (or don't!) in our shot! So very little is actually 'in' the camera... everything else is outside it, and, if you want better pictures, THAT is where you are most likley to find it!
