We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but can this be said of every photograph ever taken? Probably not, and in the case of family vacation photos, it’s probably even less likely that any of those meticulously arranged shots would satisfy this idiom.
While smiles and eyes directly looking into the camera can be lovely, how much of a story does the photograph tell on its own without any explanation from you? Wouldn’t you love for your shots to truly express a cherished vacation memory and tell their own tale? How does one go about making their photos be worth a thousand words? Well, one easy way to accomplish this is through candid photography.
If you’re ready to ditch the straight-on smiles but aren’t sure where or how to start, here are some tips that will get you on the right track.
Start with the Correct Settings
Your DSLR and even some higher end "point and shoot" models have a variety of settings to choose, from full automatic to full manual. The moment you start capturing really amazing photos is the moment you step outside of your comfort zone and vow never to use the fully automatic mode on your camera again. As an example, most professional photographers will switch between using one of three modes - aperture priority, shutter priority and manual.
TIP: Use aperture priority for depth of field focus and shutter priority for action shots or long exposures with a tripod.
The aperture of a camera refers to the opening of a lens that lets in light to the camera’s sensor. With the aperture priority setting, you can tell your camera that you want to take control of and place priority on how much light you want to expose your shot to, while the camera will auto-compensate for everything else like shutter speed.