 - Dayna Cain  Contact Dayna Cain Dayna Cain's Gallery |
People Photography I was recently asked by a friend to take some casual, outdoor shots of her two kids. Beautiful little girls ages 4 years and the baby is 3 months old. I agreed to do it thinking how hard can it be? (my first mistake) I had all the cute poses I wanted to do picked out, I had a wicker love seat for them to be placed on, it was a beautiful day in the shade. I took a few test shots for white balance, exposure etc before they got to my house and all the while I am thinking this is going to be a breeze. WRONG! Within the first five minutes I knew this photo shoot was going to be a disaster. The baby cried the entire time and the 4 year old was everywhere but where I needed her to be. Both girls were dressed in pink and when I looked at the few photo's I did manage to get, the pink from their shirts had reflected onto their faces. What a disaster! How do all of you awesome people photographers that I see here on BP do it? I admire you so much and your portraits are stunning and captivating. I would love to be able to be a "people" photographer but based on this experience I have decided that portrait photography is by far the most difficult type of photography there is and maybe I can't cut it. Have any of you had this kind of experience? If so I would LOVE to hear about it!
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Try a location that's not new to them. If a baby is going to cry, which being in a new location may have something to do with that, then that may be a wrap for that day. Kids don't have much patience for very much posing. If it flows like how they play, they'll take pictures all day. Don't be so set on a list of poses, try outside, be flexible with you distance from the kids because you may need to interact directly with them and then let them interact with each other while back away a little and get pictures. And learn to be quick. If it's going so that you can tell them to do something, then be ready and get the picture and move on. Anything that you miss it didn't happen. Something else will.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Dayna - You might try photo sessions on two different days fairly close together. First, take some pictures indoors using natural light from a source such as a window predominantly on one side. Let the children (or adults) relax and get used to you and the presence of your camera while you get used to how they might interact. Then, on a warm, temporate non-windy day close enough to the first session so they remember you, gradually try taking a few pictures outdoors. It is nice to have some posing ideas in mind, but throw any rigid list away and just be ready to react to whatever happens. Lastly, when the session is over and you are gently herding them back to the house, STAY READY for some possible last-minute interaction or lighting situation that could turn out to create the best shot of the day. Good luck and good images. /Ralph
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