Ann Elizabeth

Takes our breath away...

Shooting Your Kids 101 Part II

The fun continues. This is really short because I am taking a small break from editing piles of studio sessions and my eyes are crossing. So here goes....

You will read this and think that I am crazy and this couldn't possibly make that much of a difference in your photos but trust me IT DOES. When you are shooting photos of your kids (or dogs or husband etc) get down on their level. Seriously if your toddler is in the floor get on the floor. If they're sitting in a chair, squat down until you're eye level with them. If they're climbed up on the kitchen counter top, for heaven sake put down the camera and move along....haha just had to make sure you were paying attention! For those of you who have had studio sessions with me know that 99.9 percent of the time if I am shooting a baby or toddler I am sitting on the ground and have been known to lay flat on the ground on my stomach in order to get the shot I wanted. Trust me, try this trick and you will be happy.

Why you ask? Ummm I suppose the answer is it puts your photos in proper perspective and they look more natural. When you see a photo shot down on someone it automatically makes their head look bigger and they look smaller as you go down. If you see a photo shot upward at someone (like you are standing or sitting below them) their feet/bottom half look big and the rest of their body gets smaller as you go up. FYI unless you are going for an artistic goal this is the worst possible angle to shoot someone from.

The second part of this lesson is to shoot shoot shoot and then shoot some more. Gone are the days when we had to purchase film to put into our cameras and then pay to develop every shot on the roll. We are in the wonderful age of digital media and huge memory cards are getting cheaper and cheaper so take advantage. When I am in the studio on average I shoot between 150 to 200 shots of one subject. I then narrow down to about 50 good ones and then take in on down to around 30 or 40 great ones. Guess what, your chances are a lot higher of getting a great shot of your baby with the perfect expression if you shoot more shots. You can delete the not so great ones and you'll be left with some great shots of what you were trying to capture. Trust me, your photo quality will go up 100 percent just by shooting more to get the ones you really want. Case in point, I have a photo of Noah Thomas when he was 3 years old hanging in my studio above the mantel. I LOVE this photo. I love the expession on his little face, his eyes, the way his hands are folded, everything. That day I shot 100 shots of him and I got ONE. Yep one...the other ones he's crying or pouting or laying down or picking his nose or you get the picture. But who cares about all the crappy shots, because I got ONE that I will treasure forever.

So let's review

from lesson one

Get the kiddos distracted and don't make them smile and pose

Get close then get closer

From today's lesson

Get down on their level

Overshoot your subject and you'll get better results.

Shooting Your Children 101

Don't get excited here people...I'm talking about shooting as in shooting photos...as in capturing their darling little faces on film...only it's not film anymore. I have decided for your reading pleasure and my writing pleasure (I only like to write about stuff I like anyway...I know it's a little selfish) I am going to post a few series about how to get some really great photos of your kids. Yep without a fancy camera, studio lights or a gazillion props. All you need is a cute kid, a cute husband, a cute dog, or borrow your neighbors kid. (Just perhaps don't say it's because Jessica taught you how to shoot them...)

We are starting at the beginning. I mean the beginning...forget about shutter speed and f-stop and ISO (if you know what any of that stuff is anyway). We're going to the bare bones basics of shooting great kid photos.

Um...stop trying to make your kid pose and smile and look at you. By nature children do not sit still and smile and say cheese and it's weird to try and make them do that for a photo. Alright I know you want a few photos before they grow up of them smiling and looking but for now we are going to focus on letting them do something that is natural to them. Let them look at a book, or a small toy, or a dandelion. Anything to get their attention where they will sit in one spot for a moment. A great great photo op is to get them interested in looking at something outside of a window. The window keeps their attention and the natural light from a window cannot be beat when it comes to photographs. This technique not only works for busy toddlers but also for those school aged kiddos who are famous for the awful fake forced smile. Let them be themselves and catch their natural expressions.

When they are busy with whatever it is they are looking at/playing with/ you can snap some photos while they are engrossed in whatever they're doing. Then whistle or say their name or click your tongue or whatever until they glance up at you. Then shoot several photos of that soft look in their eyes when they're a teensy bit distracted. Trust me, it's worth it. Then if they want to continue to look at you, sing a little song or rhyme, or whatever and if they smile great, if not, you probably just got some fantastic shots anyway.

The second really basic thing I'm going to talk about is really really basic but it never fails to improve someone's photography skills. There is a saying in photography that if your photos are not good enough you're not close enough. I think this rule applies for most subjects but especially for babies/toddlers/kids/pets. In comparison to the background they are small things. So instead of zooming in with your camera actually walk closer to your subject. When you think you're close enough zoom in a little more and you probably have it. The best thing is to eliminate some of the background and anything else that is going to distract your from your focal point . Some of my very favorite photos that I've shot have actually cut off the top of the child's head but it is a perfect viewpoint to capture facial expressions and those eyes.

So I think that's enough for today but I'll think of more to add later. And if this bored you to death please leave me with a commment begging me to go back to talking about something...anything else.

Decorating...a little at a time

I love love love to decorate the house...I don't love love love the amount of money it takes. We moved in our home almost 2 years ago and when we moved in we had purchased new furniture for every room except Noah's bedroom (it was already new) so alot of the extras (decor stuff) had to wait! I have slowly but surely been furnishing one room at a time and I have not let myself get in any hurry.

In the past I would be in a hurry to finish a room and I would buy stuff that I didn't love and in a month I would be tired of it. Several of the rooms in the house are coming right along and I am almost satisfied with them.

Except the dining room, I love my dining room table and china cabinet, (black with dark wood top) but it is seldom used (Noah actually calls it the thanksgiving room...because that's the only time we use it). Don't get me wrong, we eat meals every day together as a family but we always sit at the kitchen table. However, I decided recently it was time to hang some wall decor in the dining room. And what better thing to decorate my walls than portraits of my beautiful babies??? So the above photo is what will soon be hanging on my wall in a 24x36 gold frame. What do you think? I will post photos of the room when it is all done, but I wanted you to see my sweet babies first!!!

Gulf Shores...

After the long bout of sickness that our family has endured this winter (remember stomach virus, flu, ear infection, upper respiratory infection, the diarrhea that wouldn't end?) we decided on one day's notice that we were going to spend Spring Break at the beach...any beach....somewhere that wasn't here in the wet and the cold and the snot and the well you get the picture!

We called Sunday evening and found a condo in Gulf shores that we could check into on Monday. We loaded up the van along with Nana and Papa and off we went at 5 am! The kids actually did relatively good on the 9 hour drive. The just got a little crazy the last 30 minutes or so.

Anyway we finally made it...and this was the view from our beachfront condo...

LOVE IT!

Anyway, we shopped for groceries on Monday night (eating out with the kids on vacation is pretty much limited and out of the question...) Then by Tuesday we spent the rest of the week doing a whole lot of nothing. I mean nothing that had any schedule or planning. We played on the beach, hunted for shells, watched Papa fish off the shore, and I managed to get a little reading done while the kids napped each day. It was so nice to not have any place to be but relaxing.

Fast forward to Wednesday...Nana and Noah were up for another full day at the beach, and Travis volunteered to occupy Lil in the condo so I decided to sneak off to the outlet mall for a little while, and I had one destination in mind....Strasburg Children's clothing. You see I had packed up my camera equipment and had my mind fixated on a portrait of my children holding hands walking along the beach like the little angels that they are in my daydreams. Well I find Lilly two perfect outfits and I disregard the price of them, I mean it's an investment in my photography endeavors right? (Nod here to make me feel better...) I had already bought Noah's beach outfit and so the next day we waited until sunset and off we went to the beach to capture my picture.

Oh but wait...I forgot to tell you that our little diva HATED the sand and really wasn't fond of the wind or the water either. She is basically a little pampered princess and really doesn't like anything grimy or dirty or gritty and I'm pretty sure she thought the sand was one big dirt pile and she was highly offended that we dared to plop her precious little naked toes in it. So me and Nana and the love of little Diva's life (aka Daddy) decide we can make this work. To no avail, we beg, we plead, we threaten, we bribe, there was no getting Lil to stand and look happy...heck I gave up on happy...just not look mad... At the Strasburg store the tagline on their door and ads and such said "Strasburg....in the business of dressing angels..." Oh no strasburg... not this time...

Notice her highness is much happier when her shoes prevent that offensive sand from getting to her feet...

So we gave up that night....and I (being a glutton for punishment) decide that I am not giving up. I dress them up again the next day and parade them back to the beach...now they're both mad and Travis wasn't too happy either at this point. Long story short...there is no fairy tale picture of my kids strolling by the sea shore. We however did get a lovely one of Noah dragging his crying baby sister across the sand kicking and screaming. I'm pretty sure I should have it enlarged in canvas to hang on the Wall...Oh wait I get to see that in person every day!

After I gave up my pipe dream of creating the perfect beach portrait the rest of the vacation was great. Stay tuned for the next post about the trip home...it's a story in itself! And I got over being upset with the contrary little princess who ruined my artistic vision...I mean who can stay mad at a face like this? OK maybe she is an angel after all...and alas, the perfect beach portrait can wait until next year right? Hellooo Travis...right?