What’s changed about yearbook photos? Well, digital cameras for one. They’ve changed everything in the world of photography. They’ve become so ubiquitous among school communities, that you can almost guarantee that every parent, student and teacher has captured incredible yearbook photographs and memories using one. And what better source for great images to be used in your school yearbook?
To give you a few yearbook photo ideas around composition, I grabbed my iPhone and asked my family to stand in as subjects during a recent summer vacation.
Fill the Frame in Yearbook Photos
This is one of the biggest mistakes made by the novice photographer — not getting close enough to the subject. The tendency is to try to include the entire surroundings, but what matters most is capturing the person or people in the yearbook photo. The best way to solve this is to get close, very close to your subject. If it’s a portrait shot try to fill the frame with the face. Same thing applies if it’s a full body shot or multiple subjects.
Left: Subjects are too far away. Right: Subjects fill much more of the frame.
Rule of Thirds. Yearbook Photos the Easy Way
The rule of thirds can be a bit complicated to comprehend, so I’ll keep it simple: yearbook photos are far more interesting when the subject is not placed in the center. Fill the frame or move the subject to one of the corners, just don’t put them dead center.
Left: Paddle is dead center. Right: Paddle fills more of the frame and is lower left corner.
Mix Up the Angles in Your Yearbook Photos
Sometimes mixing up perspectives can yield incredible results. Getting low and shooting on an upward angle or climbing high up on the bleachers and shooting down to capture unique yearbook photos can make those images more interesting. I took the picture on the left from the poolside, while the one on the right was taken by my wife as I hoisted my daughter in the air.
If you are looking for more tips for your yearbook, check out our yearbook ideas page!
