Posts Tagged ‘how to photograph children’
© 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!
© 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.
