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Get ready for a close-up

A new trend in photography is to zoom in—way, way in—on your subject. It could be your baby’s feet, fingers, or ear; the window, door, or rafters of a barn; or the spokes, handlebars, or kickstand of a bicycle. Zoom in on the parts of your subject that you find most interesting, most adorable, or most significant. By highlighting a part of your subject that often gets overlooked, your picture will be more artistic, more abstract, and evoke an emotional response from the viewer that a straight-on body shot fails to do.

A word of warning: You may love your baby’s ear or the bicycle’s kickstand on the new two-wheeler, but your viewing audience may not “get it” if that’s the only picture they’ll see. When you show these images to others, make sure they’re part of a collection of images featuring the subject or object, perhaps in a grid format.

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