I have 10 reasons why ladders are a great prop to use in photoshoots for professional photographer or amateurs.
Hi! My name is Angelica, I am your local Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell area Portrait Artist, I specialize in fine art portraiture. Fine art it is such a broad category and a very subjective form of art. To me fine art is portraiture that resembles a painting, one that has a classic yet vintage feel to it. That is what I am all about! But let’s get to the ladders.
I love using ladders during my photoshoots on location or in studio. These are a few reasons why I use them and why you should consider using them as well.
#1 Vintage feel: Ladders add a vintage feel to images; it gives you a unique yet beautiful prop to add some character to your portraiture. I love the rustic and vintage feel they add to my images.
#2 Level subjects: Ladders are great to bring kids up to the parent's height. This way parents don’t always have to pick up their kids. Personally, I have a back problem and holding my 35 lbs toddler for a whole session would end in horrible back pain. The ladder allows me to bring kids up to their parent's level which is great for making beautiful portraits.
#3 Line Them Up: Not only do the ladders allow kids to come up to the parents level, you can also use them to line up your subjects. This allows you to use a wide aperture, while having everyone in focus and not having to sacrifice your beautiful Bokeh.
#4 They keep your subjects in one place: Ladders are perfect to keep little wiggle worms still, giving you the opportunity to capture beautiful classic portraits, or a simple close up headshot without worrying about someone taking off running. Safety tip: (Make sure you always have an adult near the ladder to prevent any unfortunate falls).
#5 Body lines: Ladders are great for adults as well. Having an adult leaning on a taller ladder helps by changing their body shape giving you different body angles that can be great to photograph.
#6 Focus point: They are great to make a specific subject of a group the focal point. You can see in the image below by using a smaller ladder and having mom sitting on it with her sons at her side has made her the focus point and it shows that this image is about mom and her relationship with her boys.
#7 Switch roles: They are great to switch roles around. We are used to see mom always doing things like hugging over her kids because naturally kids are shorter than their parents. But if you use a smaller ladder placing the adult on a lower level, allows the child to be the one in a different position.
#8 Sibling shots: Some siblings get really awkward especially if you ask them to hug each other. I know we all love our siblings but showing affection toward them in front of the camera can be tricky with older kids. It shows that we do love each other and that is a “no no” in sibling code, it may hurt their reputation LOL! Ladders allow the siblings to stand close to each other without the need of awkwardly hugging each other and again it's a perfect opportunity to use that wide aperture.
#9 Achieve greater heights: Probably the most obvious reason, they are great for reaching higher things, like a beautiful branch with flowers that perhaps are out of your subject's reach allowing you to incorporate them into your image.
#10 It makes you taller: If you are a short Photographer like me, they are great to help you get higher for shots from above. Especially if your lens is fixed and not wide enough to adjust to the subject, ladders can be a big help.
Having Ladders as props can serve so many different purposes and be incredibly helpful during your session. I own two ladders a small one, a medium one and I am looking into adding a third to my collection. I have to admit I love them and I can’t get enough of them. If you think I forgot another reason why they are so great or if you use them for a different reason please leave your remarks in the comments. I hope this blog helps you decide why ladders are so amazing and makes you go run to the nearest antique store and send you on a quest to find your dream ladder. For my local photographers I found one of my ladders at the Bury Saint Edmund Saturday Market and the other at Risby Barns. Happy hunting!!!
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