Today’s family photography session had me in stitches more than once! It was held at an East Bay park early in the morning before the Summer heat and crowds arrived.
[FYI: This post has a few photography tips from lessons I thought of when looking at their photos.]
To Balance or Not To Balance?
I can’t take credit for this image concept. Dan thought of having his entire family on one end and him on the other.
My idea was having one parent and one child on each end. It would’ve been so equal and balanced and well, I’ll say it, boring.
I like his idea so much better. Alison and I were cracking up once Dan lifted his family into the air! The fact that he kept a straight face is what did it for me. 🙂
Mix in the Sweetness
Since I showed you a humorous family portrait, I wanted to also share a sweet one that made me stop and say “Awwwww!” when I was reviewing the images after the shoot!
The light was golden and soft, and Baby Barron had momentarily laid his head on Oliver’s chest while Mommy Alison gazed down at them.
Awwwww! (See? I did it again!)
Photography Tip: In every family shoot, it’s good to get a mix of images. Funny and serious. Editorial and semi-staged. Color and BxW. If your shoot allows for it, get a mix! You’ll never be sorry you did.
Different Perspectives
Photography Tip: Change up your perspective and angles to get some non-traditional shots.
I kept shooting baby Barron on this quilt from the ground viewpoint to get his face and the tree in the background (see below right). By doing this, I was missing the beautiful texture of the grass in close-up shots because the blanket was on it. Or, I would only see the grass around the edges of the frame if I panned out.
So, I changed my perspective and shot top-down (see below left). This allowed me to get a baby bum shot and a better view of Barron’s fuzzy head! And you all know that I love fuzzy baby heads and baby rolls!
I also composed the shot so the grass would be in interesting triangle shapes. This pairs so well with the star shapes on the quilt!
Putting Barron’s head in the left corner of my frame was to show his direction of movement, like he was crawling off the blanket and out of my frame.
I love both images: they both tell a story, but their different perspectives highlight different details and also give an entirely different feel.
Which do you like better?
Scanning & Being Ready
Photography Tip: Always scan for a “moment”, an interesting viewpoint, and the “good” light! When photographing young children and babies, you have to always be on the look out and have your camera ready at all times.
In this photo (below), we were wrapping up the shoot and Alison was dressing Barron on her legs. I was talking with Dan and saw this from the corner of my eye. It was a real moment. And I found it incredibly funny that Barron was just laying there with his arms out and his head almost upside-down! He is such a great baby — so easy-going and happy — that this getting dressed position really showed that!
To make it a more interesting composition, I knew I wanted to take the shot from the ground level and with Alison’s shoes at each side of the frame!
