By Lifestyle photography is all about capturing the essence of a situation. In this blog, freelance contributor Keshav Sishta shares some tips on how to take good lifestyle photos.
Family sitting on the grass near a building | Photo: Agung Pandit Wiguna
Lifestyle photography can be defined as re-creating real-life situations in a controlled setting. It can be complicated and can take a lot of practice to master. While practice comes with hard work, following a few simple tips can make the whole experience a little bit easier and help to better your skills as a lifestyle photographer.
Here we have rounded up a few simple steps for you to follow – check them out below!
Learn to communicate:
Lifestyle photography is all about creating natural pictures. Thus, it is important to communicate with your client before and during a photo shoot. Posing naturally in front of the camera is not something that comes easily to everyone, this is why you have to be patient with your client and explain to them what they need to do clearly.
Plan and keep it as natural as possible:
Unlike commercial photography, the whole point of lifestyle photography is to capture pictures in the spur of the moment to make them look natural. Take the time to understand your clients. Ask about their likes and dislikes and make them feel comfortable and accordingly plan your photoshoot. You should even consider suggesting a location based on their likes and personality.
For example, if you are clicking a lifestyle portrait of someone who is serious and ambitious, a place like an office would be a good location. If the subject is easy going, a beach location is just fine. For an outgoing person, pick a location like a bar, pub or a restaurant.
Give directions:
You are the professional so your client will most likely look to you for direction. During the photoshoot, help your client with poses and how and where to stand for the best shot. It is also important that you give further directions on how you would like the picture to turn out.
Another important issue you will often face is camera shy clients, these people are not accustomed to posing, this is where you should step in and help them feel comfortable and relaxed. Guiding the client to pose correctly, reduces your work of creating good pictures by almost half.
Group of people toasting marshmallows on sticks | Photo: Rawpixel
Anticipate what’s going to happen:
A good lifestyle photographer, or any photographer for that matter, has a good eye for what is around him or her and anticipates what is going to happen. This is a very important trait to have and one can only inculcate it with experience.
In fact, this is one of the key things to remember in lifestyle photography. Sometimes during a photoshoot, you can create unexpectedly amazing results by keeping your eyes open. A good tip to know: keep clicking those extra photographs in-between moments, you never know when they might turn out to be amazing pictures.
Change your perspective:
It is likely that on most occasions you will click pictures from just one perspective. A good way to improve and get amazing results is to mix it up and use another perspective.
For example, let’s say that your forte is straight shots. On some occasions, try to mix it up and get pictures from different angles. You could try and shoot a picture from a side angle or even try a top view shot. These days, you can even use drones for lifestyle photography, although they can be expensive, the results you get using them are amazing.
Invest in the right equipment:
Like with all photography branches, it is important for you to invest in the right equipment. Only with the right equipment will you be able to click crisp and clear pictures. Apart from a good camera, you will need to invest in lenses, flashlights, filters and studio lights and accessories.
If you do not have the budget, you can even rent out equipment for shoots, it is more economical to rent.
Use your zoom:
Sometimes people are camera shy, others might not be too comfortable getting themselves clicked. In such a case, it is a good idea to use your zoom lens, you don’t have to get close to your subject and there is a chance of getting natural and spontaneous clicks that tell stories.
Play around with the camera settings:
Photography is a branch of art, so it is best not to stick to rules and play around with your camera setting. Mix it up and use different ISO and shutter speed as well as aperture levels to get varied photographs.
Man standing beside his wife teaching their child how to ride a bicycle | Photo: Agung Pandit Wiguna
Tips to take better lifestyle photographs:
From learning to give directions to experimenting with settings on your camera, we hope by following these simple steps we’ve provided you can improve your skills as a lifestyle photographer.
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Author Bio: I am Keshav Sishta, experienced professional from Singapore video production company with extensive experience in corporate video production, creative commercial photography and film projects.
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