Successful Shooting - Family Photography

A while back I wrote about the challenges of photographing children. While some of my favorite images are of big-eyed, smiling babies, it is definitely not easy to get the perfect shot. Something babies and young kids have that adults and teenagers often don’t, though, is a carefree attitude in front of the camera. As we age, many of us (myself included) learn to be camera shy and self-conscious, making it tougher for a photographer to bring out real emotion in family photographs. I have a few tips to share about what works for me during a family shoot, and would love to hear your advice as well! If you notice any great tips missing from the following, leave a comment so we can all learn from one another.

Make Everyone Comfortable

By the time a family gets to your studio or chosen location, they may have been stressed about their appearance or the fact that they have to spend an hour or two taking photographs in the first place. Being personable and assessing the moods of the various family members will help you determine if cracking a joke, asking questions about school, or chatting about current events will best break the ice and get everyone to relax. 

Start Formal
If you're shooting outside, starting with the formal photographs will ensure the parents that the outfits they picked out so carefully will stay nice and clean for the traditional images. By the end of the session, they won't mind if everyone gets a little messy with more fun compositions, because the shots they think are most important have already been taken care of. It's likely, though, that their favorite images will be those messy ones in the end!

Embrace Imperfection

Kids may cry, teenagers may be sassy, and siblings may fight. Sometimes the moments that are more raw and real make for the best, unexpectedly honest images. Those fighting siblings? Get them to act out their frustrations for the camera and they'll end up laughing together instead of coming to blows.

Pose Naturally

Allowing your clients to fall into a pose that feels natural will make for a better-looking image. If they look a bit stiff, ask them to bend their limbs slightly to add more shape to the composition. Get them to laugh, smile at each other, and forget about the camera when possible.

Take a Break

Smiles can feel stiff and forced after a while. I encourage portrait clients to bring a change of clothes, because putting on a new outfit and having a few minutes to refresh physically will also help them refresh mentally.  

Have FUN!
When you enjoy yourself, your clients will enjoy themselves too. Smile, laugh, and be enthusiastic about the images and the experience.

Good day fellow shooters! Tuesday Ambassador Introduction

Good day fellow shooters! Its Tuesday Ambassador here replacing Robert Gonzales, who will soon be graduating from our school. Robert Gonzales, if you happen to be checking back on us in the near future, I wish to congratulate you on your success and wish you the best of luck moving forward! Also, thank you for your time and devotion in helping to keep this blog rolling. Good luck to you sir!

With that said, I would like to introduce and tell you a little bit about myself. I am currently living in Nipomo, California where it’s nothing but droughts and sun. I do, however, like long walks on the beach, when it’s just me and my Canon. Some of you may be wondering if that was a joke. I will leave you with the wondering and hopefully as we move forward, you will be able to make that determination for yourself.

I am a six year military veteran and have served in the United States Air Force where I was permanently stationed at Minot AFB, North Dakota from 2004-2010. In that time my job was to maintain nuclear ready, air-to-ground cruise missiles, however, with my extreme disinterest in that part of the field I was moved to a handling unit. 

This was a job that required transporting and maintaining security throughout the various movements that had to be accomplished. But my final years in service lead me behind a desk keeping accountability for everything in the entire squadron. Needless to say, I am glad those years are behind me. I have learned quite a bit about myself, and other people. As for the military… well, I have my views.

After leaving the military, my family and I decided to stay in Minot for a bit to see where our future may take us. Well it turns out that I would be staying there for a while, while the rest of my family at the time took off. However, let’s not talk about how that came to be.

 Perhaps it was a good thing that everything happened the way they did because then I probably wouldn’t be here to blog about it. Through many hardships, with a little less today, something told me that I had to get out of North Dakota, fast! And by the way this happened with my Canon in hand. Indeed I did, and now life is a bit better than what it used to be.

To tell you the truth, the only thing that has kept me alive would be my Canon. It was not until the last year of my residency in North Dakota where I enrolled in the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division. It’s almost hard to believe that I enrolled back in November 2012 and did not think that I would be here typing up this blog or come as far as I have with photography in general.

So I bet you’re wondering how got here. My curiosity about photography happened in high school; however, I could never fit the course in my schedule due to my interests in drafting, architecture and electronics! My interest in computers was always a passion of mine but it was not until I was working at a major retail store service department that my other deeper passion started to unfold. 

It just so happened that a current employee, who worked above me at the time, was the one who led me into getting my first DSLR. After that things were a haze, quite literally, but I will not be mentioning them here. It would not be long that I decide to use up my G.I. Bill as it was the only way for me to stay afloat. You could say that it still does.

But enough of that! Things in my life changed quite drastically and so has my work in the time that I have been enrolled here. And of course I plan to make the most of this because let’s face it! We all need ideas to keep our minds rolling in creativity. Though, I may be logical at times. Which by the way, when was the last time you cleaned out your computer of dust bunnies? 

Some of my inspiration drew from a band by the name of Blue October mainly because it led me to take as many photos of my daughter before we would be soon forced apart. As in photographers though, I would have to include Elena Kalis for her beautifully driven stories of underwater photos. 

I have also been drawn to William Wegman as of late because of his way of thinking outside the frame, although he is most known for his works of his many Weimaraners as a part of his subject. If you have seen Sesame Street then you should be somewhat familiar with his work. It was just recently that I was drawn into the works of Michael Quinton, a nature photographer who is still currently working for National Geographic. 

His photographs of birds really drew me in and I may have quite possibly found a niche in nature. You can find the links to their websites after the blog. Although, I am known to shoot more than just birds as I hope to get to show you as we move forward. After all, I am still experimenting.

Below are photos that I have taken of my daughter. The first was taken months before I had even thought about school as an option. Just a little knowledge was acquired as you see no direct flash was used. The second photo of my daughter was the last portrait I have captured back in June of last year.

 

The other three photos, one above and two below, showcase my work of birds. Well, you get the picture.

I would like to end with my last photo and I would like to see if anyone can recall a recent game with this type of color scheme and lighting situation. Let’s see if we have any gamers watching!

And in closing, have a wonderful day and happy shooting!

Now your one and only,
Tuesday Ambassador.
Thanks for reading.

http://www.elenakalisphoto.com/projects/my-fair-ladies/

http://www.williamwegman.com/about.html

http://www.michaelquinton.com/

Comments/Questions

Photographing Children is never an easy task.....

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!!  I hope everyone had a great week. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing a friends 3 year old son. This wasn't the first time I have photographed kids before, I have two of my own kids and a niece and nephew and have done several other children’s sessions prior.  So I wasn't as surprised when we got of to a very rocky start.

I went to the session with my business partner, and he had never been to Valley Forge Park before so he met us at around 9:30 AM to start the session. I have met Hunter (my friends son) many times before, but he was never the subject of a photo session, needless to say, what happened next really didn't surprise me or Harry (my business partner).

Since Hunter had never met Harry before so he was a bit stand offish. After about an hour Hunter finally calmed down and crying stopped. Hunter is a very energetic 3 year old, who show tons of love especially to his mom. Finally we were able to get the shots we were looking to get and it did take some time, a lot more time than the scheduled session was planned for. 

By the end of the day, a 1 hour session turned into a 3 hour session. Hunter became Harry’s best friend, and we used that to our advantage to get some amazing photos of him. Photographing children is never easy, it takes patience and someone who has the love for photography to capture the images that are envisioned. I love photographing children in an environmental setting, it allows them to be themselves and allows me to capture those special photos that would never be taken in a studio setting. It also helps create memories of the moment for everyone involved, which I find difficult to achieve in a studio setting.

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne