i capture with Marie-Pierre

Hi everyone! Marie here.  For this month's photography tip, I would like to share some thoughts with you about capturing the relationship between 2 people.

I have spent the last few weeks at my parents' house in Canada and I took several photos of my daughters in different ways but with the mere focus of capturing their friendship and their relationship and also their relationship with my parents and with friends. Here are some of my pictures, as well as my observations and some tips.

1. Try to capture them close to another.

Look at there heads, their hands. Pay attention to where they are looking. Are they looking in the same direction?

2. Look for opportunities to capture them when they interact with each other.

What do they like to do when they are together?

3. Try to get them when they are helping each other.

Here, my oldest daughter was reading the bedtime story to my youngest daughter. Try to vary your point of view. Shoot at an angle, from the top.

Or get at their eye level.

4. Position yourself behind your subject to capture what they are looking at.

Here my daughter was trying to tame my parent's very anxious cat. My mom gave her a chair and told her to sit and wait until the cat would get used to her. Even if the cat is way overexposed in my picture, I think that the connection between the cat and my daughter is palpable.

5. Take several pictures over a span of time to show the evolution of a situation.

This picture was taken several days after the above picture. My daughter was still trying to tame the cat and she could get way closer.

6. Don't disturb/interrupt your subjects. Let them do what they are doing. Hide the camera if you have to.

Here I was walking on the street and I could hear how my daughter and my friend's daughter were having fun together (despite the language barrier and the long time they hadn't seen each other). I discretely took my phone and snapped a picture on my side. We see half of my arm and the horizon line is not straight, but the expressions on their faces is priceless and worth so much more than a perfect picture!

7. Stay far away and shoot in the same direction the subjects are looking.

I love this picture because we were geocaching that day and on the picture we see that the boy in front of the group found something while the other kids are trying to see what it is. And, as the viewer of the picture, we can't see either what he found, but we would love to see, just like the other kids.

8. Try to capture an emotion. A real one, not a fake smile.

Here my daughter was on Skype with her dad who didn't come to Canada with us because he had to work. I love her real smile so much in that picture!

9. Always be ready! The opportunity for a picture can happen anytime. I almost always have my phone with me for that purpose or if I don't I know where to find it quickly.

My youngest daughter was afraid of the cats and that moment where she went to pet him on her own lasted exactly 3 seconds. It was just enough to snap the picture of this tender moment.

Here's another example of being ready all the time. This picture was taken when we woke up in the morning. You can tell by looking at my daughter's hair. lol I was really happy that I captured this moment of laughter. It was so spontaneous. Again, it's totally not the perfect photo. It's all grainy, the colors are off. But you know what, for me the emotion captured in a picture is worth so much more than a clear and technically perfect photo.

10. Lastly, I really want to take a minute to talk about selfies. Man, even if they are posed and everybody is looking at the camera, I feel like the selfies are highly showing the relationship between all the people on the picture. When we are all trying to squeeze in on that tiny space, that gives funny moments and very natural smiles sometimes.

This was the last picture taken at the airport before I left my parents to fly back home with my girls. I really like the feel of the picture and the energy between all of us.

I hope I could give you some ideas. If you do try some of my tips, please share them with us by tagging Citrus Twist Kits and/or mpcapistran on Instagram or you can share them on our Facebook Fan page.