Okay….I’m a commercial photographer that shoots concepts and stories for a living and that’s very different than just shooting your own kids, which is what this blog is about. So why should you worry about shooting a concept or story for that matter when it comes to your own kids?
Well……because I said so. How’s that for sounding like a parent?
It just makes things more interesting. I really don’t think it’s enough to just plop cute little Steven or Julie on the floor and crank out a couple of cards worth of images of them just looking at the camera and smiling. Sure they’re cute and adorable, but your images can be so much more if you just take a little more time to think things out.
When you add a concept behind the image it becomes so much more to look at….not only will little Johnny be cute, but the picture will be saying something as well.
I’m not saying to never shoot “grip and grins” with your kids….for heaven’s sake keep doing those shots to document the stages of your kid’s life at the very least, but every once in a while try to do something more with them.
Pick an activity that your kid enjoys and shoot the build up to it, then the event and then the “post” event or clean up. Why shoot the clean up? Why not shoot the clean up….lots of times cool stuff happens when you least expect it and getting little Tiffany to help with the garbage might be one of those situations.
So….the next time your little guy or gal has a bunch of friends over to go on the slip and slide, shoot the whole thing from start to finish. Don’t grab all the kids and make them sit still and pose with those cheesy glued on smiles they learn how to give because of “school picture” photographers that get some sort of oddball satisfaction from ruining your kid’s perfect natural expression.
Those photographers really cheese my cracker so to speak…….but that’s a different post for a different blog for another time.
Push yourself, expect and demand a little more from yourself and watch your images go to the next level.
My niece is now 24 years old. I remember like it was just yesterday, her performing on the fireplace hearth and bowing to our thunderous applause and shouting “Thank you – Gentlemen!” as she jumped into what she believed to be a mosh pit on the carpet. She was 2 1/2 years old at the time and living in Long Beach…….cuter than crap!
These little kids that we love, nurture, protect, bandage and teach eventually do grow up and leave the nest to start their own life’s journey and adventure…….really cool ride, but it always puts a lump in my throat
She just got married a couple of weeks ago and I took the opportunity to take her and her, then, fiancee out to the Salt Flats to shoot them in their tux and gown.
What a blast we had! I left the house at about 2:30 in the morning to be able to pick them up in Salt Lake and whisk them off to the Salt Flats before sunrise.
We lucked out and had a beautiful day…….temperatures were in the 60′s and no wind. I would have preferred having a few more clouds than we did have, but after living in Utah for almost 7 months now, I’m grateful for any day that isn’t raining or snowing.
They’re a great looking couple and we got a bunch of great shots….they were troopers to get up so early in the morning, but I think they were more than happy with the results we got.
As parents, sometimes we’re guilty of not shooting as many pics of our kids as they get older. Their not quite as cute as they were when they were 2 and 3 so we don’t look for as many opportunities to shoot pictures with them.
The lesson today is to recognize that they’re ALWAYS cute and to shoot them even past their teen years. At least until they start cranking out their own kids and then they’ll have to take a back seat to their own kids as we shoot image after image of the next generation of “little ones”.
Have fun and enjoy the ride…..it’s the best one there is!
Just a side note – If any of you have older kids that are getting married up here in Utah…..one of the gazillion weddings up here every year…..and want great shots of them in their tux and gown just contact me and I’d be happy to set something up. I don’t shoot weddings at all, but I will spend time with couples that want one of a kind gorgeous images….just not on their wedding day. Trust me…it’s worth it. I hope to hear from you soon.
One of the biggest problems people have shooting kids is expecting them to act, behave and or pose a certain way. Once the shoot starts, many times that sweet little darling kid won’t want anything to do with your preconceived ideas to photograph.
I know what it’s like to have a picture in my head of what I want to get and not being able to get it. At this point, you have two choices….continue beating your head against a rock trying to get your unco-operative subject to pose exactly the way you want…..or to go with the flow and see what the kid will give you.
After being in the business for over 20 years, I can pretty well figure out what’s going to happen within about 5 minutes of working with any child. This is not the time or place to become the ultimate disciplinarian. You can coerce the child into submission, but it comes with a really heavy price. They’ll never want to shoot with you again. They’ll remember you as a bully.
In my opinion, it’s just not worth it to get a picture. I’ve learned that by letting go of the reins and relinquishing “control” I’m more likely to walk away with a great image. It will most likely not look like anything that I envisioned at the beginning of the session, but I can promise you that it’ll be a better shot than the one I’d get by forcing and imposing my will on a kid.
Many times I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the outcome and on several occasions I’ve been rewarded with shots that I am completely in love with. This shot was done of my nephew. He hated having his picture taken, but was so cute I insisted on him letting me photograph him. We got set up and were ready to shoot and he wasn’t going to have any of it. I shot him anyway ….I kidded around with him a little bit and just hung out for a while and I wound up getting this image. To this day it’s my favorite shot I’ve ever taken of Kai.
He’s 10 years older now and has become a great model on top of that. He’s let me do countless shots of him over the years and I’m sure there will be countless more to come.
Just remember to take what the subject gives you. If they can’t smile with teeth showing don’t insist that they smile with their teeth showing. It’s all a give and take….kind of an elaborate dance between subject and photographer. Once you get into a flow you’ll feel it and that’s when the magic happens. Enjoy the ride!
I’ve been looking around at some of the “photo blogs” that are out on the internet lately and there is one thing that has really surprised me. Why do so many of the blogs use the exact same template with almost identical images to other “photo blogs?” Heck…..even some of the verbage is word for word the same as other blogs. The images almost always look like they were shot by the same person as well.
I’m disappointed that so many just go out and copy the work of someone that is basically already copying the work of Anne Geddes. Not only is that plagiarism, but it is as far as one can get from true creativity.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with getting inspiration from someone’s work or vision and using that as a starting point or jumping off point…….but to do the same shot and then call it your own…..that’s not what photography should be about.
My advice……try harder. If you want to recreate someone else’s work as an assignment to learn a technique…..that’s great…..just don’t promote it as your own work. Any self respecting professional photographer knows there are laws in place to protect against that and would never do this.
There is a big difference between owning a professional digital camera and being a professional photographer. I’m a little taken aback by all of the misrepresentation going on of late. My niece is getting married in August and gave me a list of several “wedding” photographers’ websites to look at.
To my surprise….they were all just bloggers. All of them did something else for a living and did photography because it was their “passion.” Each of these blogs featured ” fully retouched or “edited” images” awash in posteriziation, clipped highlights and clipped shadows. Many of the images were very beautiful. Interesting crops, interesting use of available light (only available light) very limited scenarios because of their inability to do anything other than just point their camera and shoot.
This is a recipe for a wedding disaster. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer….don’t hire a blogger……get a professional that knows what they’re doing….it’s worth the extra money.
They initially wanted me to shoot their wedding, but I declined because even though I’m a professional in the biz for over 25 years….I don’t shoot weddings. It’s not what I’m good at and it wouldn’t be fair to them to misrepresent myself.
If you’re learning photography……admit it. If you’re still struggling with Photoshop……admit it. Don’t promote yourself as a professional baby, teenager, wedding photographer when you are consistently posterizing every one of your images that happens to have red in it. It’s not honest.
That being said……we all start somewhere….just be yourself…..not Anne Geddes, not your next door neighbor, not me.
Learn your craft so that you can try new things and experiment. It’s when you experiment that you come up with images that can look unique. Unique is a lofty goal to aim at since seemingly almost anything worth doing has already been done, but I think you get the point.
I spent a couple of days last week shooting with an art director friend of mine from New York. It was a blast to be working together again. It’s kind of like this intricately intertwined photography dance we have going. She knows me well and I know her well and consequently its a joy to shoot together….she brings out my best.
We spent several hours on a neighbors porch. She had so many wonderful knick knacks all over the place that made for wonderful props for my kids and families to use.
It felt a lot like play time for me as well as the models. We wanted the images to have kind of dreamy whimsical quality to them. We chose specific colors in the wardrobe and props to achieve that.
My personal opinion is…..it worked.
In any case…..don’t copy other people’s work or websites or text……it’s not ethical.
Sorry I got off on a rant there…..ooops…..I’ve just plagiarized Dennis Miller……ahhhh crap!
Just go out and play, have fun……..try something new and different………and most importantly…….be yourself!
Not everyone has a willing 2 year old subject at their disposal to use as an indentured “photo servant.”
My kids are all older now with my youngest being 12.
Older kids don’t always like to have their pictures taken, so how and when is the best time to photograph them?
By the way…..I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been both very sick and very busy.
I’ve been sick off and on for over 4 months….ever since we moved up here to Utah.
I finally went in to see a doctor and he determined I have allergies. Who would have guessed?
I hadn’t had any allergy problems in Arizona in over 22 years.
I also had 2 photo assignments…..one that took me to LA 2 weeks ago and another that took me back to Arizona for all of last week.
I was shooting within 1/2 mile of our old home in Chandler and my daughter, who came along as my “digi-tech” assistant and I just wanted to hop over our old fence and go swimming one more time in our pool.
It would’ve been fun, but I decided to pretend to be mature…..so we didn’t.
OK, back to the subject…..I’m sure you’re not on here to hear me blather on about my personal junk.
Most teenagers, not all I realize, but most are involved in sports programs at some point during the school year and I’ve found that even the most uncooperative of my kids didn’t mind having their picture taken when performing.
When they said that we’d see warmer, precipitation free weather for the next week……Blam!…..we get a bunch of snow.
Why do I bother listening to a thing these people say. Weather forecasters are the very definition of inept.
Sorry about the rant!
In any case, the snow came, we shoveled for a couple of hours and then went to work.
My youngest son stayed home from school and 3 of his cousins ditched as well.
It’s nice to know that I’m encouraging truancy in America and the non education of my family.
I just worried that if I didn’t shoot pictures that morning that even though we had a foot of snow outside, it would melt quickly once the temperature bumped up.
It was for good reason because that is exactly what happened.
These 2 images were really easy to blend together……the background was practically identical.
Same positioning, same camera angle…..easy.
So…..the purests among you are now ringing your hands of me and saying terrible things.
Oh well…….if you’re in that camp….it doesn’t bother me in the least.
I’m just trying to get a great shot.
If I have to blend a couple of shots using Photoshop then so be it.
Photoshop is just a tool.
It can’t make a horrible image a great image, but it can make a good image that much better.
It can also take a great image and with a little massaging make it amazing.
If you’re a photographer….learn how to use the tools that you have at your disposal.
The next time you’re taking pictures of your kids and are disappointed because you think you didn’t get a great shot because they don’t all look good in the same image….see if you can take 2 images and combine them to make a good shot.
