DIY lockdown photography Day 4
Tip No.4: Building connections and emotion
You saw the moment, you felt the moment and you captured the moment. Yet, when you looked back that feeling you were so sure you had caught, just wasn’t there.
Sound familiar? It’s not an uncommon problem and with just a few tweaks, it will be a problem no more. It all comes down to building connections in your images, enhancing what you feel, so it can be seen and felt by others too. Like many of the tips we have explored this week, connection can be a complex subject, but let’s break it down to 3 things - eyes, hands and space.
Eyes: eyes can be such a beautiful tool to show connection. We use our eyes to communicate clearly with those around us, everyday. Avert them and you break down the relationship, showing a disconnect. Direct the gaze and it works as an invisible bond to bring subjects together. In the images below, my husband is looking directly at our daughter. He is lost in her and her only - this immediately creates a bond between them. Directing your subjects to connect with their eyes, whether it be with each other, to another or to something of significance will immediately create a closeness between them. The viewer will be naturally pulled along to engage too, as below - you see him, then you see her, and you understand THEM.
Eye gaze can draw us to a beautifully blooming bump and a mother’s love and protection. They can intwine a couple and exude their happiness and excitement. Awe and amazement spill from a parent’s gaze at their newborn bundle and pure adoration overwhelms the look from a parent to their first born.
Hands: I like to think of hands and arms as pathways for our energy and emotions. When we connect physically with another, we ‘pass’ this energy and love on. To sit side by side without touch gives a sense of two individuals and a disconnect. When we use our touch and ground our hands we immediately transition from parts to a whole. If we look at the images below, my husband’s hands are grounded on our daughter. In the first, he holds her with one and rests the other on her chest. In the second, his hands grasp her feet and her little hands grasp his fingers. This physical touch brings a strong message of love and connection. These photographs would have a very different feel if he were to have left his hands by his side or on his lap -an immediate disconnect and a route for your emotion to be lost .
Hands can connect a couple in love or new parents overwhelmed by their new little baby. Hands can comfort and protect a growing bump or soothe the bubbling excitement of a sibling-to-be. Where there is a relationship, ground the hands and draw it together.
Space: Three words - close it down! When I work with couples and families you will always hear me telling them to get closer. Simply put, a space in person may appear as nothing, but capture it in an image and it’s an immediate disconnect. When we allow someone close to us, we create an openness and trust. This in turn, brings about those positive emotions of love and connection. So now, when we look again at the images discussed above, we can see the connected gaze, the grounded hands and the absence of space. See how my husband draws our daughter close into his chest. He brings his head towards her to break down the space above and guides her legs closer to close the space below.
Take the opportunity to get in close in your DIY sessions. Nestle that newborn bundle up in your arms and onto your chest or shoulder. Snuggle back into your partner and enjoy a family moment. Or perhaps, scoop that soon-to-be sibling up in a big old bump hug.
Now, when the moment feels lacking, when you sense something is missing from your shot, check EYES, HANDS and SPACE. Come back tomorrow, for our finial tip - simple phone editing.