November 2007 Enewsletter, Photo Division, Tamron USA

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André Costantini shares tips and techniques for photographing children and making the most of our images.

AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II
by Andrew Darlow

Over the last 15 years, New York-based photographer André Costantini has been called upon by advertising agencies, corporations and individuals to photograph people of all ages.

And one particular group of images in his portfolio really stands out–his photographs of children. “Photographing children effectively involves having good equipment, a lot of patience, and a willingness to act like a kid for a while during every photo session,” says Costantini.

Every photo session is different, but Costantini has some basic suggestions for breaking the ice when he photographs children who are not professional models. “To begin with, if you don’t know the children, kids can be shy, so I recommend asking them to do something, like jumping, or swinging on a swing, like in the photos below.”

Costantini also explains that in some cases, shyness can be used to your advantage, especially when you want more serious-looking images. “If you are a parent and have a friend who also likes photography, you can photograph each other’s children. You may be very surprised how well the kids behave, which will often result in better photographs.”

Costantini also relies on a collection of Tamron lenses, and especially likes the Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II Macro zoom and the Tamron AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II for photographing children. “A zoom lens, especially a compact extreme-zoom lens like the Tamron 18-250mm, will cover 90% of the needs of most users. That means that you won’t have to lug around multiple lenses every time you want to use your camera,” says Costantini. He adds, “I’m very impressed by the sharpness of the Tamron 18-250mm across the whole zoom range, and there is very little distortion, even at the 18mm focal length setting. It is, without a doubt, the best extreme zoom lens I’ve ever used. The zoom is very easy to operate, and it’s also compact and light (just 3.3 inches in the closed position and just under a pound). I’ve also found the lens to be less intimidating to people compared with a very big, heavy lens, which can be helpful in situations when you want to photograph your family or a client, but don’t want to attract a lot of attention.”

“When I traveled to Japan earlier this year, I brought just the Tamron 18-250mm and the Tamron 17-50mm. I chose the Tamron 17-50mm in addition to the 18-250mm because it is slightly faster than the 18-250mm (it has an F/2.8 maximum aperture across the entire zoom range compared with a F/3.5-6.3 variable maximum F-stop range). I found the Tamron 17-50mm especially useful in low light situations and when I wanted to produce very shallow depth of field effects. The photo of the girl at a festival in Tokyo, Japan is one of the photos from that trip. I photographed it with the 18-250mm lens, 1/800 sec., F/6.3 and ISO 400 (200mm focal length).”

Also important to note is that all of the images in this article were photographed by Costantini using digital SLRs containing image sensors 24mm x 16mm or smaller (for example, the Nikon D200 and Nikon D70). Using a camera with a sensor of that size results in approximately a 1.5 multiplication factor, so the Tamron 18-250mm Di-II lens is equivalent to approximately 27-375mm in 35mm full frame terms.

There are many popular cameras that use sensors of this type, and Tamron makes compatible mounts for many different models, including Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony. According to Tamron’s website, “Di-II lenses are made for exclusive use on digital cameras with image sensors 24mm x 16mm and smaller and are not intended for use on full-frame D-SLRs or film cameras.” However, Tamron’s Di series of lenses can be used with many full-frame digital cameras, as well as many film cameras.

In the following section, André Costantini covers 10 different tips and techniques for creating better images of children. These tips can, of course, be used when photographing people of all ages, or even when photographing “four-legged family members,” like dogs and cats, who share many of the playful qualities of children.

Tip Box

Tip 1:
Use a Zoom Lens.
Shooting with a high quality zoom lens has a number of advantages. When you photograph children, you never know when a special moment will happen, and a zoom lens allows you to quickly adjust the focal length so that you can catch moments when they happen (even if the subject is not right in front of you). Another reason to choose zoom lenses is convenience. By not having to change lenses, you can just grab your camera and go, without having to pack additional lenses, or change lenses, which can introduce dust into your camera and onto your camera’s sensor.

Tip 2:
Use Selective Depth of Field and a Wide-Angle Lens for Portraits.
Traditionally, wide-angle lenses are not advised for most portraits because they are not flattering to most faces, but in some cases, they can add drama to a photograph–especially when photographing kids. I photographed the girl holding some plants and flowers with a Tamron 17-50mm at F/7.1 at 1/500 sec. and ISO 400 (18mm focal length). Her hands help to frame her face, and the wide-angle lens gives the image a look that’s both fun and “real.” I also used spot focusing for this shot so that I could pinpoint the area I wanted to focus on. The bright viewfinder image and minimum focus distance of just 10.6 inches of the Tamron 17-50mm lens made it easy to get the framing and effect I wanted.

Tip 3:
Use Natural Light and Fill Flash When Necessary.
The sun offers a tremendous variety of light, and with a little knowledge of lighting, you can make the most of almost any situation. Generally, the best times of the day to take photographs in many parts of the world are between 8am-11am and 3pm-6pm. However, if it is sunny outside, and you are taking pictures in the middle of the day, open shade can help save the day. An example of open shade is the light you often find under a large tree or in the shade next to a building on a sunny day. If you face your subject toward the sky while in open shade, that can help to create natural, directional lighting, as well as catchlights in the eyes.
In some cases, fill flash can really help to fill in shadows and avoid “raccoon eyes” (especially around midday). Many DSLRs have good-quality pop-up flashes that can be set to auto fill flash so your photos look more natural when you use the flash (not overexposed).

Tip 4:
Control Your ISO and F-stop to Freeze Motion.
Virtually every Digital SLR made in the last few years can produce images with low noise (known as “grain” in film and film-based prints), even at higher ISOs (ISO 400-1600). This opens up many creative options when photographing children. An example of this is in the image below. This photo of the girl jumping in the rain was photographed with the Tamron 17-50mm Di-II at F/2.8 and1/320 sec. at ISO 800 (17mm focal length). The wide open F/2.8 aperture combined with ISO 800 allowed me to freeze the action and get the shot.
Because I knew that I needed about a 1/320 sec. or faster shutter speed to freeze the action, I used the Manual exposure mode (setting the camera dial to M) to achieve the right combination of settings. I also knew that if the girl was going to be moving, my exposure meter would not be accurate. By experimenting with different shutter speeds, F-stops and ISOs in manual mode (and using your digital camera’s histogram and LCD screen), you will quickly discover what settings work best when you want to photograph kids in action.

Tip 5:
Shoot Under “the Elements”.
Most people tend to take their cameras inside as soon as the rain or snow starts falling. However, especially with kids and families, you can capture great emotions if you shoot in the rain or snow. Misty conditions also produce a nice flat light that makes skin tones look great.
Two examples of photos taken during light rain are the image above and the one below. Of course, you will want to protect your camera when the rain or snow really starts falling. To do that, you can put your camera in a plastic bag and make a hole for the lens, or you can have a friend or assistant hold an umbrella over you.

Tip 6:
Convert to Black and White.
Photos (especially images of children) can look better in black and white, or sepia-toned. I recommend always shooting in your digital camera’s color mode so that you have the ability to use the photo in color or black and white. I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 for most of my editing and toning, and there are many applications available that will do a good job of converting from color to black and white. In the case of the above image, a few things contributed to my decision to convert the image to black and white. I shot the photo with the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di at F/6.3 at 1/640 sec. (22mm focal length), and the first thing that made me think about converting the image was the sky, which was gray and overcast.
By converting to black and white, gray skies blend in better, and the image becomes more about the subject matter. Two more reasons for converting the image were that the boy was wearing an orange shirt and the umbrella was bright blue, which made for a distracting combination of color. If you look through your collection of photographs, you will probably find a number of photos that are great candidates for black and white, and if you know in advance that you want to make black and white images, you can dress your subjects in clothing that will convert well from color to black and white.

Tip 7:
Use Selective Blur.
Sometimes images look better when they are edited to create a selective blur effect. In the image from tip 5 the foreground and background were much sharper in the original image, so I used Photoshop’s Gaussian Blur filter to give the image a selective focus feel.

Tip 8:
Crop For Added Effect.
I generally recommend filling the frame with your subject when shooting, but sometimes cropping can have a dramatic effect. This is especially true when you crop the traditionally rectangular images that come from most digital cameras to a square format for use in books, cards or in digital slide shows.

Tip 9:
Use Motion (Drag the Shutter).
Kids are active by nature, and by capturing a sense of movement you can create captivating images. One of my favorite techniques is to “drag the shutter,” or allow it to be open for longer than about 1/10 sec. This can be done while the subject is in motion (called panning), or when you are in motion with the subject, as shown in the image below. In this image, I’m sitting on a tire swing with the girl and shooting as we are moving. Because we are moving at the same speed and in the same direction, the girl is sharp, but the background looks like we are moving extremely fast.
Like in Tip 4, I used Manual exposure mode (setting the camera dial to M) to get the right combination of shutter speed, F-stop and ISO, however, I could have used Shutter Priority mode (camera dial set on “S” or “Tv”) set to about 1/30 or 1/4 second. If images were too dark at that setting, I would then increase my shutter speed and/or my ISO until I achieved a good exposure. This particular image was shot at F/22 and 1/30 sec. with the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens.

Tip 10:
Change Your Perspective.
By getting on the same level as your subject (or even lower), you can create more dynamic images. Almost all of the images in this article were shot at or below the child’s eye level, which makes them the “star.” In some cases, shooting from a higher level also works well, so I recommend taking photos from a few different perspectives whenever possible. In the case of the image below, I not only photographed the girl from a higher vantage point, I also cropped the image in a non-traditional way. By experimenting with in-camera cropping, you can end up with many more interesting photos, and a zoom lens can make this much easier.

Enewsletter November 2007

André Costantini shares tips and techniques for photographing children and making the most of our images.

Enewsletter
November 2007