photography tips
© Tim Pannell Photography
Here’s a really simple photography tip: try to find a new angle to shoot from.
In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen the same shot over and over again.
A little kid sitting in a chair on green grass, shot from an adult’s perspective.
The adult stands in front of the kid and shoots down on them.
The adult is between 5′ 3″ and 5′ 10″ tall.
They’re nice shots, but I’m amazed at how consistent they are from picture to picture.
The goal isn’t always attainable, but it’s nice when an effort is made to try to be a little different than everyone else.
Look for interesting shapes, light patterns, backgrounds, colors and angles.
Try getting down low with your subject. Shoot at their level.
Try shooting them from behind, you don’t always have to show their face to get a great image.
I did this shot for a client down in Fort Meyers, Florida.
This playground was in a fairly ugly area and the background was really busy with old buildings, bad colors and unkept landscaping.
I wasn’t happy with the location and I was struggling to get something nice that captured the freedom kids feel at the playground.
I shot her from the front and hated it. I shot her from the side and hated it even more.
She wanted to go higher and higher and eventually got to the point where she was really leaning close to upside down at the apex.
I got down pretty low to the ground so I could eliminate the ugly cluttered background.
This let me shoot into the treetops and sky.
Since I wasn’t shooting her face, I was looking more for interesting shapes.
I asked her to have a good time and have as much fun as she could.
Mission accomplished.
© Tim Pannell Photography
One of the best photography tips I can think of is to not over think your shots.
Over thinking leads to overproducing.
Overproducing leads to frustration.
You don’t have to make a big production every time you go to take pictures of your kids.
You do, however want to control the things that you can control.
Just don’t try too hard to control your “subjects.”
Picture a scenario….the less contrived the better.
Pick good angles to shoot from so your background doesn’t detract from your images.
Be sure to shoot when the light is pretty – morning, late afternoon, open shade.
Have your kids and anyone else in the shots wear nice co-ordinated clothes.
Then, when you’ve got everything ready….go out and play.
Give people a basic idea where you want them and have them do their thing.
© TIm Pannell Photography
If you see something you really like give your kids some feedback and have them continue doing what they’re doing.
If it’s not working, don’t let them know it. Give them encouragement until it starts to look right.
Take your time, let the shot evolve. It doesn’t have to be “perfect” right off the bat.
Be playful, make it fun.
Springtime is coming soon…..even if it is snowing here in Utah…..ridiculous!
There are lots and lots of Springtime activities to shoot – gardening, water fights, picnics, playgrounds, parades, barbecues.
Pick something and shoot away.
© Tim Pannell Photography
Another good photography tip – you don’t have to make people look at the camera to get a great shot.
Shoot your kids interacting.
The kids will have fun no matter what their ages.
I take that back….if they’re 17 they won’t have any fun.
If they’re 17, find a different hobby. lol
© Tim Pannell Photography
Ever have to shoot in the wind?
It sucks!
Well…..technically, it blows.
We’re in that in between stage of weather here in Utah when it doesn’t know if its still winter or Spring.
2 days ago it was almost 70 degrees and yesterday it was cold enough that it started flurrying snow.
I don’t really enjoy this in between time…..either snow a ton or get on with it and bring on the Springtime.
It’s no fun shooting kids in cold weather when there isn’t any snow for them to play with.
I went out and shot a bunch of scenics instead.
My wife called while I was shooting so I turned my back to my tripod (something I never use shooting people) and had a little conversation with her.
The next thing I know is the wind blows my tripod and camera into the back of my head.
I’m glad my head was there to keep the camera from hitting the ground, but it really hurt.
It was extremely windy that day and cold and rainy – sleety.
I don’t know why I was out in it…….low I.Q. I guess.
© Tim Pannell Photography/Corbis
In any case…..it reminded of a much warmer day on assignment in Fort Meyers, Florida.
It was at least 90 degrees out and close to 1oo% humidity with 40-60 mile an hour wind gusts.
It was one of the most miserable days I’ve ever shot in.
I would lay on the beach to shoot and the wind would create these little mini tornadoes of sand that would blow into my nose and eyes.
The sand there is almost pure white, which is nice for providing fill, but causes snow blindness after a full day or working in it.
The other frustrating thing is what that much wind does to hair.
A little breeze is always great for getting hair to flow and move, giving your shots some life.
But that much wind just becomes a giant killer pain in the butt!
What should you do when this happens?
If you were smart and you were just out shooting for yourself, you’d bail out and head inside.
If you were on an assignment like I was or were as dumb as I am, you’d stay out and give it a go.
We pow wowed and decided to turn the day into “hair day”.
Most all of the shots we took that day focused on peoples hair in the wind.
It would have actually been a lot of fun if the wind and the sand hadn’t exfoliated at least 3 layers of skin from by body.
© Tim Pannell Photography
With the exception of the 2 year old we had with us, who had no hair.
She would have normally been my “workhorse” that day, but since she was 2 she ran out of gas pretty quickly.
Who could blame her?
The balloons in this shot with her only lasted for 3 frames anyway before they “Auntie Emmed” there way into the stratosphere.
We failed to explain the whole helium concept to her………ooooops.
It reminded me of all the times at Disneyland when there are always several balloon “escapees” at any given time in the air over the park.
We actually got quite a lot of great images that day in spite of the ridiculous amount of wind.
A couple of the images are still among my favorites.
I guess no matter what, it’s important to learn how to work with what the situation gives you.
In this case, we made the blowing hair the subject and quite trying to fight it.
It worked.
© Tim Pannell Photography
Just when I had given up on getting any more snow to shoot in, we got 10 – 12 inches.
The forecast was for a whole week in the 50′s.
We’ve lived here in Utah for just 2 months and the weather has been accurately predicted about 4 of those days.
We heard for weeks and weeks in January about major snowstorms coming our way and then..poof….nothing…..no snow…..not even a flurry.
© TIm Pannell Photography
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.
© Tim Pannell Photography
By late afternoon 2/3 of the snow was gone.
Our snowman had bought the farm by 1 p.m.
We got the kids all dressed up and hit the ground running….literally.
I wanted to get images with a neighborhoody feel to them so we just shot outside our house.
It makes it real convenient to just be able to walk inside to download and edit.
If one of the kids gets hurt during the snowball fights, they can run in the house and get triage…..convenient, eh?
I just threw a tarp down on the ground in the snow, laid down and screamed action.
I shot the action shots with my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 set at f4 and 1/640th of a second.
I tend to underexpose my images just a little when I shoot in the snow in order to preserve detail in the snow.
I noodle around with curves later on in post production.
You want to pay close attention to your histogram as you shoot so you don’t end up with completely blown out highlights.
© Tim Pannell Photography
As usual, the key to getting great shots with kids is to make sure its fun for them.
Lots of encouragement with lots of laughter.
Don’t get uptight. Don’t make it life or death.
Be sure to notice when they start to get bored and change the action.
Move onto a different shot.
One more thing to pay attention to is color.
There are a lot of nice colors in this years winter fashions……thank heavens.
© Tim Pannell Photography
It’s nice to have a lot of scarves and hats to pick from as accents for the kids’ ski jackets.
Most places are completely picked over by now, but you may be able to find some killer deals for next year if you keep your eyes open.
You can find hats for 75% off or more in some cases.
If you can get a small arsenal of hats and scarves to use in your shots…..it’s totally worth it.
Find a bunch of colors that work together and have fun with it.
© Tim Pannell Photography
I don’t know if we’ll get any more snow this year or not.
I’m pretty ready for Spring at this time of the year.
Back in Arizona I’d be out golfing and seriously considering getting in our pool by now.
The key I guess is to appreciate the weather you have, when you have it.
Make the most of the photographic situation that presents itself and as always……..have fun!
