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Monday, September 26, 2011

Click! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids

I'm always, always learning more about photography. About the business and technical sides of photography. I try not to "study" other photographers' work too much. This can lead to copying, which I really don't like. As a photographer, I do consider myself an artist. When I get out to shoot, I shoot from my heart and not from where the hottest trends in props are. I think that having a really great understanding of what I need to do technically is essential in being able to shoot freely, in knowing when to press the shutter and feeling it. It's essential in knowing when you have taken "the shot." Of course, I do draw inspiration from other photographers sometimes and a lot of well-known photographers are great teachers as well. Rachel Devine is definitely one of my photography heroes. Not only are her images stunning, but she's also got a great handle on the business side of her work and she's got a great handle on what a meaningful photograph means. So when she put out an e-book at Digital Photography School, I knew it would be a good read. For a super affordable price, I get 100 pages of Rachel (also known as Sesame Ellis). There are short exercises at the end of each chapter and I thought I'd blog them here, to keep myself accountable for my learning and to challenge myself.

1. Write three words that describe your child photography style.

colorful. connection. real.


2. Write three different words that you would like to describe your child photography style.

meaningful. soulful. special.

3. Think back to the last image of a child that you saw or took yourself that moved you, and write down three elements of the image that make it remarkable.

1-  The light is beautiful. You can tell that it's morning.
2-  He's just free. He isn't thinking about the camera. He's thinking about how the grass tickles his ankles and how it's nice that he got to get out of the stroller and run around.
3- The shot reveals something about Evan. He took a piece of his papa that day in his "work shirt."
 (For the record, this is my new favorite picture of Evan)

2 comments:

Tim said...

he's gonna break a lot of hearts!

rachel said...

fantastic, thank you for sharing! i love the last bit about the shirt...special things to remember.