22 Photos of Everyday Moments to Capture

Our brand new creative workshop Documenting Family Life kicked off last week, and we’re loving watching on as everyone learns how to view their own everyday moments through new eyes.

So this week’s highlights reel of images from our community is a gorgeous collection showcasing  a variety of every day moments you can capture, and tips on how to elevate ordinary moments from snapshots to something special!

 

Food

Photo Tip #1 – Light

Set them up to eat in good light, then snap away! Look for soft light which you’ll usually find near windows and doorways, and place them at a 45 or 90 degree angle to the light source to create shadows on the opposite side.

Photo Tip #2 – Clear the Clutter

Clutter creates chaos in photos and distracts from your subject. Push aside anything that doesn’t need to be in the frame, and you’ll take your photo from snapshot to stunning in one easy move.

Related:  Clear the Clutter

Don’t just capture the food… think about all the details.

Sleep

Photo Tip #3 – Framing

Use objects in the environment or your home to frame your subject to get variation into your photos. In this shot rather than struggling with the bars of the her son’s cot, Cassie used them to frame her son’s sleeping face.

Out & About

Many of us tend to leave our cameras at home when we’re out and about, unless we’re going to a special event or outing. Take your camera when you head out, even if you don’t take any photos, better to have taken it with you than miss out on capturing moments of your everyday life.

We love the light in this taken during the early hours when the sun was still quite low in the sky and creating those long hard shadows and the haze lends it a dreamy, quiet feel.

Photo Tip #4 – Repetiton & Colour

Including repetition and colour in our photos is one of the easiest and most powerful compositional tools at our disposal. And that’s what makes this shot of a very ordinary, everyday chore such a compelling shot.

Photo Tip #5 – Negative Space

When you have a sky like this, make the most of it! It’s the use of negative space that has elevated this simple scene of a boy on a bike to something very eye catching!

 

Quiet Moments

We tend to wait for something to happen when we’re looking for things to photograph. But the quiet moments, those times in between all the activity, gives us opportunity to capture the essence of our children through beautiful portraits.

Photo Tip #6 – Framing

Shoot through doorways to frame your subject and at the same time convey the quiet alone time Claire’s daughter is enjoying.

 

Dressing

Photo Tip #7 – Get Down Low

When we’re new to photography we have a bad habit of taking photos of everything from our standing height. Instead, see how much more powerful even the most ordinary everyday moment can look by simply getting down low.

 

Chores

Our daily chores are a big part of our family story, so be sure to include them!

 

Photo Tip #8 – Shoot Through

This is the kind of activity we might instinctively move to shoot outside, from behind him. By simply moving inside and shooting through the window Heidi created a much more interesting photo of her son cleaning the window (and that tongue would have missed any other way!).

Photo Tip #9 – Get Up High

From your standing height down onto your subject to vary your composition. This works because it highlights the colour and repetition in the pegs, and was the perfect way to highlight those little hands helping.

Photo Tip #10 – Include Foreground Elements

Including foreground elements is a fantastic way to add depth and layers to our photos, and in this shot below Kayla has also shown us another way to shoot through objects in the environment to frame your subject.

Emotion

Life isn’t always rosey, and it’s not just the happy or quiet moments that are photo worthy!

Study

Photo Tip #11 – Perspective

Think about the story you’re telling, and move yourself around your subject to find interesting angles that convey the story elements.

Play

Photo Tip #12 – Isolate Your Subject

Another way to isolate your subject is to get in close and use a wide aperture to create a shallow depth of field.

Related: Getting out of Auto

 

This top down perspective was perfect for this scene1 It has showcased the activity perfectly, made the most of all that repetition in the playdo tools, the negative space is powerful, it highlighted the fabulous colour and the texture of the surrounding timber. What’s more, that low light is gorgeous!

Related: Indoor Photography Tips

Couch Time

Make the most of couch time whilst they’re quiet and still to catch some beautiful sibling moments.

Bath Time

Photo Tip #13 – Embrace High ISO

Life doesn’t always happen in good light, and in those moments, embrace your ISO to capture as much ambient light as you can. If your shots are grainy as a result… rever to B&W, it’s very forgiving on grain!

Related: Embrace High ISO

 

Join my new workshop How to Shoot Pro-Quality Photos With Your DSLR… it’s totally FREE to join! Register here for the workshop…