Madeline photoshoot

This was a photo shoot with little Madeline. When she arrived, she was already asleep, so I figured I would get what photos I could while she was asleep. Unfortunately since she was a little bit older than newborn, we were afraid if we took off the onesie it would wake her up. So I shot what I could. Even though I wish I could have had the onesie out of the picture, I still think the photos of her came out excellent. Then of course she woke up.

One of the challenges I faced with this particular shoot was the fact that she loved to move, but was still so young, she didn’t have moving mastered yet. So I had to get creative with the angles, and how to get her to look in the right direction. I do really like how the photos came out. The B&W ones were definitely my favorite.

Snapshot of Andrew

I thought I should post this one. It was taken with less professional equipment, but I liked the texture of the hoodie my son was wearing in contrast to his fair skin. I won't go into details since this was more of a quick snapshot, but I still liked it none the less. This one probably spent too much time in Photoshop, but it was just a snapshot. Still liked how it turned out.

Getting closer to what I want

These next two portraits are of my two kids, Andrew and Emma. This was also sort of a random photo shoot on the fly. When I first shot these pictures, I really like how I was able to capture the natural expression of the two children. No cheesy smiles, or goofy faces, they were just kind of them. Of course these were shot back in the day when the camera was a neat new thing, now I can only get their pictures with high priced bribes.

But one thing I really liked looking back at this, was the lively nature of the background. I wasn’t thinking about posing, I wasn’t thinking about backdrop I was just focused on capturing the moment of personality. But without realizing it, even though the background offers some compositional issues, I like how non-blah it is. The background is their home, their environment.

I think though the years, I have sort of drifted away from this sort of energy, trying to control my environment so much more. Maybe I should let loose a bit more. It just creates a much more intimate portrait of the person. It gives me some ideas to experiment with in the future.

Realization of true portraiture

This is one other photo I felt I had to post. This was actually not an official photo shoot, I was over at my parent’s house, and their neighbors had cows and horses etc, and they had kids close to the same age as my kids, so we were over there checking out the animals exploring. Of course I shot this photo because I can’t resist a portrait.

But I soon realized how much a natural setting can complement the portrait. I loved how the kid had the baby calf in a near headlock; it was so much of his personality. This little rough n’ tuff kid, broken arm from falling off a trampoline, still doesn’t mind getting rough with the calf. And the shorts and cowboy boots really cap it off.

But this photo made me realize how much a natural home environment could add to a portrait. Had this boy been in a studio, you would know so much less about him. But in this picture, so much is stated about his personality and who he is, in a portrait fashion.

The photo blog begins

So the photo Blog begins. As a photographer, I want to capture people in their most natural state. I feel successful when I capture that minute expression that says a million words about who that person is or what they may be feeling at that time. I also believe a portrait should be like a classical work of art, something a family can have on their walls for years to come and for generations to enjoy.

Well to get started, I thought I would back-track a bit selecting some of my favorites. The picture below I shot about four years ago. It was one of those photos where you reach a realization of being able to take the photos you want. My son and I were out walking along a built path, and I wanted so much to capture the inquisitive nature he had about him as we walked along and he was taking the outdoors in.

I love the way he sort of is looking into the future with very curious eyes. I like how he is holding the stick because you can’t keep those little fingers idle. It’s just so much him, and his personality.

One of the advances I made with this photo was exploring with black and white conversion using Photoshop calculations. It is a very powerful tool that I had gone completely unaware of for years.

Haha, of course looking back, I have to laugh at the amateur mistakes I made. I won’t go into detail on them, but I am sure any trained eye can pick them all out, compositional and technical. But I have learned so much (and gotten much better equipment) since my genesis photo. Thanks Andrew, for getting me started down this path!