Hi I'm August and you are? Oh! You photographed my
Mommy and Daddy when they got married in January 2011 and then me when I was a
little tiny baby?
Oh yes, you do look familiar! I'm so sorry I didn't remember your name!
I'd love you to hang out with us for the morning and take some pictures now that I'm one. I might just be the world's happiest little boy except when I'm having a 5 second meltdown over all of these clothing changes. Look, I'm so mad I'm going to lie quietly on the floor. Take that.
But I'm easily distracted as soon as I see Daddy!
Yay, time to hang out in the yard
Really? Time for another clothing change?
Did you know it's my birthday? I'm one year old and I have a cupcake all to myself. Not sure what a cupcake is but I'm happy to investigate
Whoa! That was good. Want some? Too late, it's all gone.
Becky & Duke - thank you for asking me to photograph August as he turns one. I love seeing your family grow. It's the only time I've ever wished I was a videographer just so I could capture the awesome sound that is August chortling and laughing.
I have many previous wedding clients who've just had babies/expecting so expect to see the occasional baby/family shoot in between the wedding and engagements! In the meantime, for all the parents out there, here are some my
Top Ten Tips For Taking Pictures of Children and Babies
In no particular order:
1. No cheese. Don't train your children to pull tortured smiles at the camera. A natural expression is always better than a forced grimace. Wait until your child is really laughing or make them laugh by saying/doing something silly/unexpected
2. Get down on their level - don't photograph small children and babies from an adult height. They'll look extra tiny. Sit on the floor or even lie down
3. Get in the pictures. Yeah, you haven't had time to shower, you still need to lose xlbs of baby weight. You don't like your shirt. Your baby doesn't care. And one day they'll be really thankful to have those pictures with you in them.
4. Get close. Then closer. Your baby/child is the focus of the picture so you don't really need to have all that extra stuff happening around them (plus this will crop out the clutter of their toys/boxes of diapers/other stuff that seems to collect around children)
5. Take too many pictures. Don't get your camera out on special occasions only, insist your children fake smile and then put it away. Capture everyday things. The more pictures you take the higher the chance of a great one!
6. But don't feel you have to keep every picture... Edit. It's OK to keep the best one picture out of ten almost identical ones. Delete the bad ones. A blurry/out of focus picture doesn't need to take up room on your computer
7. Back up. Imagine your computer crashes tomorrow. What couldn't be replaced? Get a back up drive (they're super cheap nowadays) and back up your images
8. Print your pictures. Backing up is a good start but no one wants to look through 200 folders of little tiny thumbnails. Print your pictures out regularly. Store them in acid-free photo storage boxes or put them in albums. Print online albums - Blurb is a good consumer option.
9. Watch your backgrounds. Is there a big tree coming out of your child's head in the park? A distractingly bright colored package of diapers in the corner?
10. Turn off the flash. Of course you'll need flash if it's really dark but try putting your child in front of a window and taking pictures using the natural window light. Much better.
If your iPhone isn't cutting it any longer and you've bought a DSLR but you're baffled by all of the menus and buttons then let me know if you'd like info on my "Photography 101" private classes, Over 2 hours you'll learn all about the different modes and buttons on your camera along with the basics of photography for better pictures of your children.
Come back tomorrow for some wedding pictures at Belle Mer in Rhode Island....:)
