My name is Nadine from the city of Hamburg in Germany and I am the mother of four sweet boys.
True to my Instagram account name “myboys and I”, I take my community with me in my everyday life and let them be a part of these exciting moments of being a mother. I love sharing pictures from our travels, excursions and everyday life. I have always captured moments of my life but since becoming a mother and as my children grow so quickly, I want to capture as many memories as I can.
And yes, this is exactly what the new Sony Alpha 7C is made for. With four wild boys, I needed something small and lightweight that I can carry everywhere and rely on to record beautiful memories of our adventures.
As a photography enthusiast and a mother, I would like to share my tips on how to improve your family pictures on the go.
Tips #1 - Quick setup to take great pictures with the Alpha 7C
As a family, we like to travel the world but when it is not possible, we try to escape in the nature nearby for some quality time together. The Alpha 7C is perfect for these situations - It is light, compact and full frame which gives the best quality wherever we go.
When taking pictures, I recommend shooting both in RAW and JPEG formats. JPEG is lighter to transfer but the RAW files give you the ability to retouch your pictures to your taste with the Imaging Edge Edit desktop application (you can download for free on the Sony website) or Adobe Lightroom. It keeps the resolution high enough for printing and putting in my photo albums which is not really the case with smartphones.
If you are uneasy using software to edit your pictures, it’s not a problem, as the Alpha 7C colours are very true to life and you can simply add a quick filter from your favourite app afterwards.
When it come to the settings for shooting, I often use the “P” mode as I can trust the camera to properly expose the scene. You can find this mode on the top dial of the camera and it’s easy and fast to use. I get professional looking results with a blurred background in portraits, for example, without being an expert. If you want to learn and go manual, you can still use this camera in this way which is perfect for people who want to learn photography.
Tips #2 – How to take better pictures of your kids
It’s not always easy... sometimes they don’t feel like it and sometimes they don’t like it. When it comes to taking great pictures of your kids you will need to be fast!
My first tip is to rely completely on the autofocus of the camera. Sony has included an Eye tracking function (Real- time Eye AF) that enables you to track human’s or pet’s eyes while they are moving. To enable this function is really easy! Switch on the camera and point the camera at your child. Then, half press the shutter button and you should see a green box appearing on the eye or face. This means the camera is focusing perfectly and is ready to take a picture. You can keep your finger half-pressed until you see a great moment happening and completely press the shutter release to take the shot.
My second tip is for moments when your kids are playing and the action is unpredictable. With the Alpha 7C, you can capture up to 10 frames per second which is essential to capture the right facial expression.
To enable this feature, simply press the “Fn” button at the back of the camera and use the scroll wheel on the “Drive mode” function. Click on it and change it with the wheel to “continuous shooting” and click the centre button to validate. Now when you press the shutter, the camera will keep shooting until the action stops.
My last tip is to use the vari-angle screen. It’s useful because in this situation you want to be able to quickly look at what’s happening and at what you’re taking at the same time. You can adjust the angle of the screen, so it’s even more convenient to use than looking through the viewfinder.
I am still learning new techniques - and would like to improve my portraits in the future - which this camera will be perfect for.
Tips #3 – How to create self-family portraits without sacrificing someone in the picture
My favourite photos are family photos! But they are also the most difficult to take - at least with four small children. We used to take our pictures with the self-timer which this camera has, but I always ended being cut from the pictures.
Now it is much easier and more fun as I can control the camera from my smartphone. Simply download the Imaging Edge Mobile from the Sony Support section on the website.
Once done, you can now see a live feed of your camera on your smartphone. From there, I usually position the camera on a tripod beforehand, make sure the framing is good on my phone and ask everyone to smile and press the shutter button on the app.
Another cool function of this app is you can directly transfer the pictures from the camera to your smartphone. Just select the pictures you want from the feed in the app and download them.
Whether at home on the sofa or outside in the forest, we can take the most beautiful pictures and share them from our smartphone with the rest of our families.
Tips #4 – Getting creative with looks and angles
As I said, I am still learning but there are creative modes in the camera that are designed to make the most of certain scenes. To use them, go into the menu and scroll down until you find the “creative style” menu. Choose the one that is the most appropriate to what you are shooting (“Night”, “Sunset”, “Portrait”) and the camera will adjust automatically.
Another tip to get creative – take full advantage of the rotating screen. As a mum, most of my time playing with my children happens on the floor! The screen lets me take different angles of my kids without having to be lying on the floor or being on tiptoes to take a picture from above. You can get quite creative angles that way!
My last piece of advice to create great family memories
Everyone is able to capture beautiful memories and make their pictures that extra special. What’s important is that a picture of a fond memory lasts forever. The Alpha 7C is light and easy to use and makes it possible to carry it with you at all times. All you need to do now is to try. As I always say -there is a little artist in each of us.
