Make them Uncomfortable

I've taken lots of pictures of people. I love photographing people almost as much as I love people. The challenge though was always getting away from the "standing up straight - stiff as a board" syndrome. We've all taken pictures of our family and others at the zoo or the park where everyone is standing beside each other very soberly trying to smile. Pretty boring. Often we take these more to show the location "Here we are in front of the Eiffel Tower!"

I have found it most workable to get the attention of the people that you are trying to photograph from how they are standing and posing onto something else.

I had a family of four some years ago wanting a picture when we were out on a sleigh ride in Ontario. Mom and Dad and two boys. They were all standing side by side and there really was not going to be any energy in the picture. I told them to all crouch down and kind of lean into one another. They had most of their attention on keeping their balance in an unusual position. And they were all giggling and smiling. I also crouched down so that I was at a level with them. Twenty years later the picture is still one of their favourites, still hanging on the wall. Another thing that this crouching down does is to even out any height differences.

You can do this with an individual as well - have them crouch, lean or sit on the edge of that water fountain -maybe the water will distract them. If you can get them to interact with the environment in some way, even better. Experiment.

If you are trying to show more of the surroundings when taking the picture but want to show your subjects in the picture, I suggest that you take more than one type of picture. Take some close up of the people and some back showing more of the location.


If you look at the picture and aren't happy with it, then try something different.

Enjoy - take lots of pictures.

Martin