PBPhoto

This was my first official Senior Portrait session.  I thought they came out great!  What a great subject.  She is a tough one to get to smile but as we got more comfortable the smiles came.  The shot above should be an advertisement for something. 


The family was interested in a walking bridge near their home so we got in the vehicles and headed over.  The bridge made for a great backdrop.  It was a challenge to time shots so that there wasn't traffic in the background.  People were slowing down to see what we were doing.

We took some natural light shots like this one here.  Sun is coming from behind so when we expose for the face some of the highlights get blown out.  I like the effect.

Then we broke out the umbrella and took some using just that balanced with the ambient light.


This should be a magazine cover.

I wanted to have everything from closeups to full length shots so that they would have plenty of choices.

Here's a closeup using the umbrella to capture the eyes.

We had Mom become a photo assistant and hold a second flash.  I used the second source for accent like the hair light on camera left here.  I love the sitting poses.  I also dig the far away look here.  Mom was concerned that she wasn't smiling enough.  I am thankful that she was giving the "say cheese" look all the time (like my kids).  I prefer having to dig for a smile.

You can see the accent coming from camera right in this one.  Still using the umbrella as key light.

When Your Camera Comes Between You and Your Family

This is an interesting article.  I'm curious what you think about it.  I certainly enjoy taking photographs.  And photographing my family is really what drives my desire to photograph at all.  But there are times when it gets in the way. 

Like a theme park.  Sometimes I just want to be a kid with my kids.  I don't want my 40D with battery grip weighing me down.  At the beach, I want to be in the water with them.  I can hand off the camera at times to my wife.  But she probably wants to wear this thing less than I do.

Sometimes I sense that the kiddos (and maybe my wife) are tired of me shooting pictures all the time.  Those are times I try to put the camera down and slowly step away.

The most difficult times are when I really feel inspired to capture something and the family really isn't inspired in the same way.  Man that is tough.  But the family needs to win that battle.  I like the quote in this article

"I've learned that it's okay to miss a few moments because the memories I make with my family are far more important."

That is truth.

So what do you think?  Has this ever been an issue for you?

What a nice evening.  Perfect weather, a nice family, and my wife as my lovely assistant.  This is the first time that my wife has helped me on a shoot.  It was great.  She was a great voice-activated light stand but more than that she has a great eye for good photography and provided some great ideas during the shoot.  This was our first shoot (other than for ourselves) in Cocoa Village.  This particular building is the Porcher House.  Built in 1916 by a citrus grower.  They rent it out now for weddings and other events.  The front is kind of a colonial style look with big columns.  Interesting on the back is white siding which looks great too.

It's difficult to take a bad shot of cute subjects.  The girls are adorable.


Above are some natural light shots.  I like to do a combination.  Take advantage of whatever the situation provides.

Using the front porch and the bench (thanks Honey for the ideas) we did some flash stuff as well.