© tim Pannell

Find photographic inspiration, but for heaven sakes don’t just copy it after you find it. If you happen to copy it as a self assignment just to see if you can do it….that’s fine, but then don’t pass it off as though it’s your own unique vision and work.

I see so many blogs now from so many people and the photographs are practically interchangeable.  Not cool…….

I don’t really know if the world needs another 2,000 Anne Geddes wannabes out there.  Be unique…..be daring….be bold…..don’t just be the same.  Figure out what you’re all about and develop that….be that…..be you…not someone else.

© Tim Pannell

Find inspiration in art, music, movies and other photographs.  Use it as a springboard, as a starting point and put your own take on it.  Don’t be afraid to fail because you’re trying new things.  It’s ok if it isn’t perfect right off the bat.

It will almost always take time to develop your own individual style, but it’s worth the time and effort it takes.

Why would anyone hire you over someone else if you all look the same?  You want to be your own person with your own vision…..your uniqueness will be what sells you and sets you apart from everyone else.

My stuff isn’t rocket science.  I understand light and how to use it and manipulate to do what I want it to do.  Other than that, I just relate to people and try to get them to actually have a good time.  If I’m successful at achieving that then the shots will look real, fun, spontaneous and not forced.  If I fail at it….then the shots will look overly staged and manipulated and overall like crap.

© Tim Pannell

I’m still up here in Utah with 40 degree weather.  Pretty sad when it’s towards the end of May.  I think we’ve had 3 or 4 warm days this year….that’s it.  Thank goodness I’ve had some assignments in Arizona, Miami and Los Angeles since the beginning of the year so I’ve seen a little bit of warmth and sunshine.

I shot some images for some friends the other day….it was pretty out, but the kids were freezing.  Windy, cold, frustrating.

The shots turned out nice though…..in the end……that’s really all that counts.

© Tim Pannell

Have you ever been in a photographic rut?  I sure have.  A lot of times I’ll find myself not shooting because I want to create some gorgeous, incredible image and I don’t really have anything in mind that rises to that level.  So instead of going out and shooting anyway, I wait….and wait…..and wait.  The funny thing is that with all the waiting….nothing really comes from it and I wind up with exactly that….nothing.

I’ve never succeeded at thinking my way out of a photographic rut….don’t misunderstand….I’ve tried thinking my way out of it 1,000 times….it just has never worked yet.  Here’s the dumb thing about me though……the next time I’m in “the rut” I’ll still try to think my way out of it at first, even though I know better.  Now that’s just stupid…isn’t it?

We all want to shoot beautiful, interesting, creative, one of a kind images of our kids, but sometimes if we insist on only shooting when everything is perfect and amazing we actually limit ourselves and, I think, miss out on some great photo opportunities.  I find if I just do an image or series of images where I go back to basics it can help me.

There’s nothing wrong with doing a “simple simon” portrait outside in open shade or backlit.  Just you, your kid, a cute outfit and decent light.  Yeah, I know it’ easy and you’ve done it a billion times, but you know what?  It still works.

The important thing is to always keep shooting…even when….or maybe, ESPECIALLY when nothing seems to be flowing or coming together.  I struggle with this all the time.  When I get to the point that I don’t have any new ideas and I sit and think….and think…and think….hoping that an original thought will pop into my head, I know I’m in trouble.

The best thing I’ve found for getting inspiration is to actually just grab the camera and a reflector and a kid and shoot….play around.  When I’m actually doing and not intentionally thinking, then the thoughts and ideas come into my mind and I can move past my photographic rut.

It’s frustrating to feel like you’re just repeating yourself over and over again, but you won’t get over your frustration by refusing to shoot until you have a completely original idea in your head.

Just keep moving forward.  Try new things from time to time.  Try cropping completely different than normal.  Shoot in different light than you’re used to.  Jack your ISO rating way up there and just see what happens when you shoot indoors with a lot of noise.  Break some rules.  Don’t be afraid to “fail”.  First of all, it’s not failure to try new things.  It’s also not failure to shoot your bread and butter.  The trick is to just keep shooting.

I’ve included a real basic image here……not much to it at all.  It’s cute and that, in and of itself is enough.  My previous post had a few really complicated images…..crazy lighting, post production toning and effects, compositing.  It was a complicated image to produce, but the image itself was really simple and strong.

This image is simple in execution as well as simple overall.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking a photo has to be complicated to be good…it’s usually just the opposite.   Complicated for complicated’s sake is a bad road to travel.  Simplicity usually leads to stronger images.  Don’t be afraid to shoot simple, strong images and the next time you’re in a photographic rut don’t think your way out of it…..shoot your way out of it.

© Tim Pannell

Here’s one of the best photography tips I can give you…..Invest in lighting.  I know it’s expensive, I know it can be confusing when you start out with it, but trust me…..there is an entirely new world out there for you when you have lights and learn how to use them effectively.

There is only so much you can do with available light before everything you shoot starts to look the same.  Sometimes, it’s nice to just mix it up.

It seems like the latest posts on this blog have been about shooting our kids once they’re older….it wasn’t intentional, but it seems to be what I’m mostly doing this last month.  If your kids are still little…..enjoy them…..it won’t be long before they are heading off to college and you’ll be wondering where on Earth the time went.

I’ve spent the last couple of days shooting my oldest son for a potential job he’s up for in the sports media department at the University he attends.  He’s in the Graphic Design major and this would be a dream job for him.

He played soccer this past summer with a bunch of buddies and one of them runs the department and mentioned that if he had a bunch of good work, he’d be able to get him in.  That was all Blaine needed to hear and he was busy creating “mock” ads and needing great photographs for them.

© Tim Pannell

I used to shoot him like there was no tomorrow when he was a little guy and it was almost like going back in time working with him again.   We did a whole bunch of soccer images with his layouts in mind.  It was so much fun to be shooting him again.

I was really happy with the lighting setup I used so I shot my 17 year old in his lacrosse gear as well.  He doesn’t really like having his picture taken, but was a great sport and actually had a good time, even if he won’t admit it.  He loves the finished images he’s seen so far.

I also grabbed the 6 year old next door and dressed him up in his lacrosse garb as well.  What a blast!

These shots were done in the middle of the day, at f-16 and 1/250th of a second.  I overpowered the sunlight with my strobes.  I set up a paper background and shot my subjects against that knowing that I was going to “strip” them out of the image and put them into a different scene that I had previously shot.

I also went down to Cougar Stadium the other night after their season opener and shot the stadium lights to strip into the images as well.

© Tim Pannell

I know this isn’t the typical stuff you’d shoot with your kids and for many if not most of you it’s overkill, but it was fun and it was a great opportunity for me to do something cool with my kids.

Not all of these images are finished yet, some are still works in progress.  The main thing is for you to be able to spend quality time with your kids and then as a bonus have something to remember it by with the pictures.

These images are a lot more advanced than the vast majority of the images I’ve taken of these 2 over the last 2 decades.  I just wanted to give Blaine the best chance I could to impress these guys and get this job.  My fingers are crossed.

Owning a couple of strobes can greatly enlarge what you have going on in your photographic “wheelhouse”.  They are nothing more than tools you can use however you choose.  Maybe you’ll use them so subtly most people won’t even notice they’re there.  Maybe you’ll push them to the extreme and create images that are way out there.

Perhaps strobes are too much for you, but you want to do a little something more than just point and shoot….look at getting some good reflectors to help you manipulate the light and better your images.

The point is that lighting is just one more part of the process of learning your craft.

Go out and play…..have some fun!!

© Tim Pannell Photography

Shoot through stuff guys…..now that’s real technical sounding isn’t it?  If any of you have watched the show “24″…..they do it all the time.  There is almost always something very out of focus in the foreground of most of their shots.

If gives the image a little bit of mystery, a little bit of depth and a little more interest than just a straight photograph.

I love depth in imagery.  I usually want my images to look as 3 dimensional as possible.

For this shot of my neighbor’s daughter I thought it would be much more interesting if I shot the image through the French door rather than on the inside of the room with Jillian.

She’s by far the cutest little girl on the planet….she comes over and visits 4 or 5 times a week to eat “white” cheese and “good” pickles…”not the icky kind.”

When we lived in Arizona we had neighbors with 2 little kids that would come over and visit us as well…..we miss them dearly…..Jillian’s visits have helped us through our “withdrawal” period from Trenten and Cadyn.

As always, when shooting 2 or 3 year olds you can’t get too technical in terms of directions……gently nudging is about all you can do.  Let them have fun….see what they naturally come up with……you’ll be surprised what great images you can make just observing what a 2 year old invents on the spot.

The next time you shoot, find some different objects with varying degrees of opacity to set really close to your lens in the foreground.  See what happens to your image when you shoot through it.  Play around with different things until you find something you like.  Shoot through windows……play around with reflections.

If you go too far with something, just dial it back a little.  Experiment with different depths or distances from your lens.  Try different f-stops……typically wide open, or close to wide open works best, but try stopping for a few if only just to see what it does.

Most of all…..just have fun playing around with your photos.  The beauty of digital is that it costs you nothing but your time to experiment.

Good luck!

© 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.

© 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

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!

© Tim Pannell Photography

What do you think of when you think of being in the snow?

Sledding, tobogganing, ice skating, snowmen and perhaps……….snow angels.

How hard can it possibly be to take a picture of somebody making a snow angel?

Not hard at all…….if your subject is older than 2.

If your subject is younger than 2 and with his dad…..it might be more difficult than you think.

Snow devils maybe?

The finished shot that you see is actually a combination of 2 shots.

I was completely unsuccessful at getting Graham to look up at his dad while his dad was looking back at him.

So………….I cheated.

I grabbed Graham from one image and his dad from another and…….voila!

It was an easy fix.

© Tim Pannell Photography

© Tim Pannell Photography

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.

It’s not as hard as you think…….give it a try!

© Tim Pannell Photography

We’re still adjusting to the weather up here in Utah.

I have to admit that I get a little bit homesick when I watch the news and see that it’s 75 degrees back home in Arizona.

February and March were always my favorite months back home……the weather was usually perfect.

It snowed all day long yesterday.  Much of the day it snowed with big huge fluffy flajkes.

I was hoping to get shots of the kids making snowmen this morning, but no such luck.

The snow never accumulated at all.  It just landed and melted.

This morning there’s a light dusting on the grass, but that’s it.

Snowmen will have to wait.

© Tim Pannell Photography

I did get to shoot some 6th and 7th graders with my son sledding a couple of weeks ago, so I’ve posted a couple of shots from that shoot.

Same story as usual for me.  Take your kids, or anybody’s kids for that matter and just get them playing together in the snow.

It just kind of happens.  Once you see something that catches your eye, you can massage it a little bit.

Give them a little bit of art direction and then, let them cut loose.

It doesn’t always work as easily as you hope, but it can be a lot of fun, and the pictures that you do get should be wonderful.

For this kind of stuff, it’s really all about the energy.

© Tim Pannell Photography

Get them laughing, yelling, running, falling, sledding, crashing.  Just shoot whatever happens and have fun with it.

The other great thing about shooting in the snow is that it acts like a built in reflector.

You don’t have to worry about being overly controlled in your setup.

It’s nice being able to shoot around without being overly worried about lighting, just be sure to watch your backgrounds.

Don’t make the mistake of going into “auto-pilot” mode.

In any case, if you live in the snow….take advantage of it while you can….eventually Spring will arrive.