© Tim Pannell Photography

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.

© Tim Pannell Photography

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.

© Tim Pannell Photography

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!

Family picnic © Tim Pannell Photography

I’ve been a commercial photographer for over 24 years now, so It seems a little weird for me to be saying that I’m discovering the joys of photography all over again.

Over the course of my career I’ve worked with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Phil Mickelson and shot all over Europe, Africa, South America, Greece, Canada and most of the states in the U.S.

I’ve worked on countless campaigns and with countless ad agencies and art directors.  I have to say that I always have a ball when I’m working.

But, out of everything I’ve shot, the one subject that is my hands down favorite, is kids.  They’re a blast!  I love their energy, I love the challenge of keeping them interested.  I love trying to understand what makes them tick.

I only started this blog a few weeks ago in the interest of sharing some of the things I’ve learned over the years with others.  I didn’t realize how much I’d benefit from it.

So, while I’m trying to come up with ideas for the blog, I’m remembering how I used to feel all those years ago when I was just starting out in photography.

I used to pour through magazines and books, searching for great images and I would always look in awe when I stumbled onto an amazing photograph.

I ate, drank and slept photography.  Writing this blog has reawakened those feelings inside me and it’s been a lot of fun reconnecting with that.

I have so many friends that are extremely interested in photography.  Several of them are into scenics and nature shots, but the vast majority are mostly interested in shooting better photographs of their children.

© Tim Pannell Photography

The “Photo Mommies” blog focuses exclusively on taking better photos of your kids.  It’s been fun sharing some portrait lighting ideas and photography tips, but I would like to get more in depth than I can in a “blog” format.

Since I want to share more and do more, I’ve decided to offer an online photography workshop to a select number of students.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

The class will run 8 weeks.  The first class will start in October

There will be a limited number of students allowed in each class so that I have enough time for each person on an individual basis.  I will give everyone personalized feedback on their assignment images.

I’m having a website designed so there will be a forum specifically for these workshops.  I will be able to post daily lessons, images, videos, and screen captures.

At the end of each week, there will be an assignment that covers the daily lessons studied during that week.

Students will be able to post questions and upload some of their photos for critiques and feedback.  I haven’t settled on a fee just yet, but perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 – $400.

I do have a lot of questions at this time.  I know what I would like to learn in a photography class, but I don’t know what any of you might prefer or enjoy.

What would you be looking for in an online photography class?  What topics would interest you the most?  What would your expectations be for an 8 week class?

If any of you have already taken an online photography course, what did you like about it, what didn’t you like about the workshop?  What areas of child photography do you struggle with the most?

I’m open to any suggestions, no matter how big……or small they may be.

camping © Tim Pannell Photography

I’m really excited about teaching these workshops and I am looking forward to getting to know a lot of you better.  By the end of the class, I’m sure I’ll have a pretty good feel for who your kids are as well.

There’s nothing as cool as getting a great, timeless shot of one of your kids that will last forever.  Nothing is better at transporting us through time to a cherished moment or memory than a photograph.

Let me give you the photographic tools you need to capture the images of your kids  that you already carry around in your heart.

Elle - Final © Tim Pannell Photography

I was setting up to take some “birthday party” pictures for a self assigned stock photo shoot.  It happened to be the day after Valentine’s Day and we had these balloons sitting around so I decided to do a little lighting test with “Baby Elle” my first victim that day.

She’s absolutely adorable and a great sport, especially when you consider how young she is.  Her mom is a really good photographer in her own right so Elle is used to “photographic abuse“.

I never show outtakes of images from a shoot, it’s almost like sharing how to do a magic trick, but since this is about instruction……here goes.

This image was taken under my covered patio.  It gave me some

Elle - 01 © Tim Pannell Photography

nice open shade and it also allowed me to lighten up the background considerably so that it wouldn’t compete with my subject.

My backyard, which is the background, was lit by direct sunlight so when I

opened up the lens to correctly expose my subject who was in open shade, it naturally overexposed the background until it became almost white.

Photo image – Elle-01 shows what the background looked like

shooting from my perspective instead of being at Elle’s height.  The background is way too busy for my taste as I prefer my backgrounds to be non competitive with my subject.

Photo image – Elle-02 shows what happens when I don’t change my perspective, but alter the crop.  I like the crop of this image better.  The strobes aren’t exactly firing the way I want in these

Elle - 02 © Tim Pannell Photography

first 2 images so the light is not quite what I like.

Elle-03 shows the image with the cropping I will use, but without any strobes firing.  You can also notice that I got a lot lower on the ground so that I minimized all the extra clutter from the backyard in the previous 2 images.  You can see reflections of the strobes and me in many of the mylar balloons.

Once I was ready to shoot I had the balloons turned to minimize the reflections as much as possible.  My expectation was that I would have to do a little photoshop work on the image to get rid of some of the unwanted reflections.

The final image shows how everything came together.  I shot this at f2.8 and 1/250th of a second.  I had a strobe left of camera shooting through a white sheet as well as a strobe right of the camera and behind Elle to give her a little highlight from that side.

The background is nice and soft, but with a  bit more interest than just a white seamless background.  I like the eyes looking up,

Elle - 03 © Tim Pannell Photography

but not too much.  And, as often is the case I went with an image that wasn’t just a big smiley face.  I find the “say cheese” images that are so prevalent very hard to look at for an extended period of time.

Beginning Photography Tips:

Tip #1 – Open up that f-stop, keep the background soft.

Tip #2 -  Shoot from your subject’s level, try not to shoot down on kids.

Tip #3 -  Use lighting to accentuate your images, make them interesting….nice shadows, nice highlights, some directional quality.

Tip #4 -  Don’t over-direct.  Try letting the child do her own thing.

Tip #5 – K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid – One of my art director’s favorite lines.

In any case, Elle’s her typical adorable self….she’s a teency little superstar!

digital portrait lighting © Tim Pannell Photography

Where do you start when you want to help people take better photographs of their children?

I remember when I started out taking pictures when I was in High School I knew absolutely nothing.  I was a blank slate.  I had nothing.

I had friends that had been taking pictures for years, so I relied heavily on them to show me the ropes.  Them and whatever crappy photo books I could get my hands on at the time.

I learned your basics about exposure, f stops, shutter speeds, lens choices and that was about it.

I shot scenics and some pictures (lousy ones) of my girlfriend at the time.  When I look back I’m completely embarrassed at how bad my stuff

Portrait Lighting Setup

was at the time.

My lens choices were crap, my angles were all wrong and even my exposures could have been tidied up a bit.

I didn’t know anything about cropping, but mostly I didn’t know a thing about light or the quality of light.

I didn’t realize at the time just how important great light is to an image.  That’s really what separates the men from the boys.  LIGHT!

My friends did the best they could.  they taught me everything they knew.  They got their info from other friends and other crappy photo books that were available.

I’m gonna skip ahead a few years.  Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed photography, but had yet to be exposed to anything that really helped me a lot.

I decided to turn pro when I was in college for Design Engineering and Economics.  I was going to go on and get an Architect’s license after that.

I had about a year left and made a huge change in direction when I decided out of the blue that I really just wanted to be a photographer.

I started out shooting weddings and engagement portraits.  It was fun for about a week or two and then it started getting really repetitive and boring.

I began pouring through commercial photography books, Communication Arts, Photography Showcase and the Black Book of Photography.

I would spend weeks and even months going over the images in those books one by one, identifying all the images I liked and then trying to understand what it was I liked about them.

This is when I really started to learn about the importance of great light.  I would then pick an image that I loved and then I’d go out and do my best to reproduce that image.

This wasn’t for my portfolio, it was just an exercise to learn about lighting.  I set about to learn what kind of photography moved me so consequently I would know what avenue of photography to pursue.

So, ask yourself, what kind of photographs have you seen that you really like?  Have you actually seen great photography of kids?

Do you like images that look like classic portraiture or do you like images that have more of an editorial feel?  Do you prefer images that lean a bit more towards a commercial look?

Maybe you like a little bit of everything and that’s fine too.  The more you play with photography, the more you’ll come to recognize your particular vision and way of seeing things.  This is the fun part!!

As you learn how to apply different photographic principles to your images, you’ll be able to see photographs and figure out how to go about producing those types of images.  That’s at least the ultimate goal.

Seek out great photography, learn all of the child photography tips you can get your hands on, get yourself a target to aim at and let the adventure and fun begin.