Shooting portraits using the S95

A few weeks back, my girlfriend and I met, which we usually do on a weekend to unwind and relax. When we met that day, she was accompanied by her sister and nephew. Good thing I had my camera with me since I really wanted to take a picture of her nephew. Her nephew is an interesting subject because he's very playful. Shooting portraits is not that easy. You must have communication to your subject, make the person you are shooting comfortable and at ease and more importantly, you must be able to capture his or her expressions.

The Canon S95 has it's own Portrait mode to focus more on the face of the subject. I also tried Kids and Pets mode, Aperture priority (Av) and manual focus. Composition should also be considered in taking portraits -- as much as possible, capture the whole face of your subject.

At first, her nephew does not look at the camera when I'm shooting him. He's also busy eating breakfast that time. But after a few more shots, he started to look at the lens and smile. Now this is the opportunity I've been waiting for. He was comfortable with me taking his pictures and he became playful. Here are some pictures I've taken of him.

And of all the playful pictures I've taken, this shot is my favorite. The framing is just right and it's expressionless. This picture for me stands out to the rest of pictures I've taken of this kid. I keep on smiling when I see this picture, you're a great kid Z!