I won Honorable Mention (4th place) in this semi-monthly photography contest that I’ve participated in since around April of this year. It’s a critique and feedback place and I get hit hard sometimes. Other times I get fantastic feedback. And at yet other times, I tick people off with my *thorough* comments and ratings.
I’ve “placed” several times and now they are producing certificates if, along with the “win”, you write an article. Here is the link to the entry where I wrote … if you are interested in reading the article.
And, here is the text of my article.
Kids, curiosity and patience
Photographing kids can be frustrating, fun, enlightening, trying, wonderful and exasperating all at the same time. Getting a two-year old to hold a pose for more than two seconds is nearly impossible. Allowing them to express themselves freely and having the camera at the ready is easy.
Here, we meet a beautiful two-year old with a head full of gorgeously curly locks. He was vivacious, full of wonder and curiosity, while also nervous and attached to his mom, but willing to wander the studio, get into containers, onto blankets and climb onto chairs. He is the epitome of your average two-year old with one exception; this two-year old looks like a four-year old. The goal of this shoot? Modeling photographs that still say “I’m two!”
Let them be kids. Children are moving objects and photographing children is like photographing a whirlwind; you never know which way it is going to go, nor how it will act. When I work with children, I let them act as they normally do. I rarely force poses because in reality, it is difficult for any child to pose for the camera without adding their signature “cheesy” smile or moving some body part. Therefore good equipment, auto-focus, a fast lens and continuous light is very helpful. For this photo, I used my Canon 20D with fixed Canon 35mm lens set to center-point-auto-focus, a single set of Alzo cool-lights with single layer softbox filter to his right, black fleece backdrop, natural light and silver reflector to his left. And then, it was a matter of letting him be himself.
Get to their level and promote curiosity. Children will be natural and act like themselves the more you get down to their level. If you sit or lay on the floor, they will naturally want to crawl or walk up to you. Their inherent curiosity will draw them to you and allow you to capture them in a more natural state. In taking this photograph, I crawled into the middle of my backdrop and put my hands together on the floor. I asked the little boy to sit where my hands were… in the center of the background but facing opposite me — toward the black background. I knew that if I put him in a position which would promote curiosity, I was likely to capture a great expression. I positioned myself at the end of the black fleece, on the floor, cross-legged, while he rolled, turned and generally moved around the center point; where I’d placed my hands. As predicted, that inborn curiosity within him forced him to stop, very briefly, because now I (the photographer) became something of interest.
Wait patiently. After positioning him in a general place, I prepared my camera (aperture set to 4.0, shutter at 1/60 and ISO at 400) and waited. I watched as he sat up, put one hand down and turned to look at me. At that moment, I hit the shutter button. It takes time to capture the right photograph for a family. I would never expect to be finished shooting within five minutes of arrival, nor 10 or even 15 minutes. In the span of an hour, I may repeat this exact situation 15 times and capture 30 or more different looks, emotions and expressions.
“If you wait, it will come.” There is an American movie called “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner who hears a voice say “If you build it, they will come.” I believe that a similar theory applies to photographing children. Just as kids are constantly moving, the photographer must be patient and still. When you are, you will capture some of the most priceless expressions, those that could never be posed; that could never be drawn out by saying “say cheese!” or by waving a feather duster in their face. In photographing children, if you are patient, prepared and a bit kid-like yourself, those pure and innocent expressions radiated only by children and only when being as natural as can be will be revealed in your photographs.