Last week while on our sun, sand and waves vacation, I asked strangers to take our picture on 3 different occasions. After looking at the photos I was instantly inspired to write this post.
When a stranger asks you to take their picture, please do these 3 things!!!
1) Be Honest – If you’re with someone else who you know is more artistically inclined than you are, please hand the camera over to them. Also, if you are terrible at taking pictures then warn the people first. They might insist on you taking the photo anyway, but at least they’ve been warned!
2) Take Two – Always snap more than one picture, especially if you are taking a group shot or any photograph that includes children. Chances are one photograph will be significantly better than the other one. We’re in the digital age where it is easy to give people choices.
And now for the whole reason I’m writing this post…
3) Get Close – I love a good close up. Yet whenever we asked someone to take our family photo on our last vacation, they all looked like this:
Why? Oh, why do people stand so far away when they take pictures?
Is there really a need for a full body swimsuit shot in my photo album??
Look at how much nicer these pictures are with a little cropping. You can actually see our faces!! AMAZING!!
And you aren’t distracted by the sun glaring off my pale, pasty legs!
The gentleman who took the very top picture actually held my digital camera up to his eye and asked me if he needed to wind it! At least he warned me first that photography wasn’t his thing. haha!
Confession Time! Are you a stand-back-500-feet kind of photographer??
heh heh. That’s funny. Isn’t it also funny how people act like they don’t know how to use a camera when you ask them to take pics? Come on… in this day and age… anyway, that’s enough ranting.
Your pics are great–and you’re right, they are even better when cropped. I’m a cropper myself. I tend to take too many closeups and don’t step back often enough. People probably groan that I’m taking pics of their zits.
Remind me not to ask you to take my photo on a bad complexion day! haha!
Love the close up shots – they’re always better!!! I love seeing the sparkles in the eyes up close. Good post!
I enjoy the closer shots too but what if they zoom super far in?? I tend to have people who cut off heads when I ask! I would rather they be far away and then crop them to where I want them to be. Not that I like to control things 🙂
Good point, Lisa! It would be more annoying to have heads cut off!!! Perhaps one close up and one further back would be a great option. 🙂
I agree – one of each is good. I’m learning to get closer when I take most pictures, though.
Maybe strangers feel funny getting too close. I would ask, first, I think.
Oooops, this is a really old post! HAHAH!
I love comments on old posts!!! You might have a good point there about strangers and personal space. 🙂
I hate when people ask me to take their pictures… not because I mind helping out. Not at all! But I am NOT a particularly talented photographer and I don’t want people to be all disappointed with the results when, really, I would do my best. And, yeah, I’m one of those people who probably looks like I’ve never seen a camera before. I they really do vary from brand to brand and it can be confusing… at least if you’re a non-expert like me. 🙂
When you are handing someone your camera you should definitely show them where the button is that takes the picture and where the zoom is! That should cut down on the camera confusion for even the most challenged photographer. 😉
Haha! I used to be, but then my husband who is an up-close-photo-taker swayed me somewhat. 🙂 I think that people tend to take far away pictures as they feel that capturing the background is important as well. Plus, as you demonstrated, far away pics can be cropped but up close pics can’t be zoomed back out! 😉 All in all, I agree with your second point above though perhaps one of those is up close and one far away? heh!
Yes, that is an excellent option! When taking more than one picture it would be great to vary the zoom!!
The thing I see about those pictures is they also captured lots of the landscape of your vacation. While I too prefer a close shot of the family you have so much more of the landscape of your vacation to work with. I’d rather crop. 🙂
Yes, Sarah. Cropping is a nice option to have!