Adding Action to Portraits
As a grandfather with a camera, I’m very often snapping away when the grandchildren are nearby. So it shouldn’t be surprising that I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos of these kids in my collection.
Yesterday, three of them were out playing in our backyard. Here’s a few snapshots that I took. I’m a big fan of trying to incorporate action into these portraits. You be the judge of whether the action helps to make the picture.
| My favorites are the candids. These are shots where the subject is totally unaware. When they’re preoccupied with having a fun experience, they may not know that you’re “spying” with your camera.
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 Obviously this is not a candid. Eden knows that I’m taking her photo |
 But here she is unaware that I’m snapping away |
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| When it’s not possible to be totally candid you can use a semi-posed action shot. The action helps to avoid a face that’s preoccupied with the picturetaker.
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 This full length portrait of Logan shows little motion |
 Here the angle of the shot emphasizes his action on the slide |
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| With a little patience, you can turn a static shot into a live action photo. A few minutes after taking the photo on the left below, she was being doing calisthenics – making the photo on the right much more exciting.
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 Here Ezra is clutching the wooden post that’s supporting the swing set |
 Here she’s showing me the agility that I wish I could still muster. |
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While each of the left-hand photos are OK, I’ve learned that adding a little action to the mix can turn my snapshots into real “keepers”.
Do you agree?
Written by Arnie Lee
