I know this may sound like a lot of hot air, but I truly feel happy when I see former clients!
When I saw Maddie yesterday afternoon, I was so excited to see how much she had grown since her last shoot in November. It had only been 6 months, but for kids under 3, that is a long time! Her most noticeable physical change was her longer hair, which really showed off the red shimmer in her light brown hair! You couldn’t really tell what her hair would look like during her first photoshoot. And the coolest non-physical change was how much she could talk! 🙂
Shimmery Hair
Isn’t Maddie darling?
[Outdoor Portrait Tip: When you shoot from a higher position than your subject, your subject will angle their head upwards, which will catch light in their eyes — hence, the term “catchlight”!]
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Love that song by Bobby McFerrin! Click here to listen.
Maddie’s parents, Millo and Jeff, were taking her to an area to start shooting (we were in the parking lot), and Maddie was worried about me. Maddie and I had just said our hello’s and she even high-fived me. Then I stayed behind while they walked off because I wanted to shoot with my 70-200 lens. Maddie kept looking back at me to see why I wasn’t coming.
Natural Attention
Maddie was so adorable that she attracted attention from strangers wherever we went. Below is an image of a stranger giving her some flowers.
No, Don’t Go!
We were about to leave, but Maddie took a speedy turn before reaching her parents’ car and climbed on top of a bench. The sun was nice and low… I love shooting at this time!
Stage Fright
Okay, it’s not exactly “fright”, but Maddie didn’t want to play on stage, even though I was in love with this wooden wall!
I do love how Maddie and Millo are looking at each other here, and they are really small among all the vertical lines.
Sock Puppets
At one point, Maddie removed her socks, and well… why not use them as sock puppets?!! This is my favorite series from the day.
[Photography Tip: An image’s composition can vary greatly just by how you position your body. Here, I shot with a 24-70 lens, so I could stand away from the action to give my subjects privacy. To make the frames more interesting, I wanted one-third to one-half the frame to have pink cherry blossoms from the tree near me, so I zoomed out and stood tall to get the blossoms in the frame. The blossoms not only add color to the images, but they also give the images more depth by having objects closer to the camera than the subjects. Just remember, when shooting kids in their natural state, you don’t have much time to figure out your shot. You have to think quick because you may only have a couple seconds or else you’ll miss the moment.]
The Golden Light
This was shot at 5pm. In the woods, this is considered The Golden Hour.
With true lifestyle photography of children, I may see a really cool backdrop or beautiful light, but the kids may not want to hang out there. (All you parents and children’s photographers know what I’m talking about! You can’t make a child, especially a toddler or preschooler, do something they don’t want.) So I was dying to have Millo sit for me. I mean, look at this light! And Millo is one pretty mama, so I couldn’t resist. 🙂
Millo had to climb up onto a wall to reach the glowy golden light. (I am also standing on a wall.) I framed the image to have parts of a tree at the top and side to give the image more texture and context.
