Hi all you happy snappers out there. Here's your tip of the month. I had the most difficult time deciding what to write about this month. I made a list of about 12 topics - I really wish I had more time!! I decided to go back through my emails this month and reevaluate what topics you're asking about. Hands down this month you-all have been asking me about locations. (The other ? I got a lot this month is where I purchased my website. I got it from Blu Domain. I decided that ? wasn't really worthy of my tip of the month :)
Before I get into the topic I want to explore one thought with you. As Mommy Photographers your job is to capture the life of your little ones. To have your camera on you at all times just in case a special moment needs to be recorded. I'm going to offer you a challenge. My challenge is to let go of this job description. Your new job description will be to photograph 2 moments. One, the significant moments: birthday parties, soccer games, family dinners, family reunion, trip to Disneyland, school programs etc. This "capture the moment sessions" would be your candid photos. There are no instructions given to "look at the camera" or "say cheese", it's merely to capture your little ones enjoying the moment. Check out this post as an example. Two, portrait session. A portrait session would be a predetermined time, place, props, outfits. This is where your are goal is to capture that "looking at the camera smile" image. Prep your children for these sessions by talking about how fun it will be, how cute their new outfits are they'll be wearing and what treat you'll give them when they do a good job. These session should focus on the developmental milestones. If your child is just learning to stand up have lots of images of them standing. If your child just lost their 2 front teeth have lots of images where you capture their big grin. If you follow these rules several things will happen, the number of images you take vs the number of images you actually like will significantly increase. You'll elimiate the question "what do I do with all these random photos?". Random photos are the #1 reason Mommy Photographers get overwhelmed and unorganized and ultimately stop taking photos. One other thing will happen, you will take more images you like and less random images. You'll have more time and motivation to improve your Photoshop skills rounding out your abilities as a killer Mommy Photographer.
Well, that was a lot more Bla Bla Bla than I thought I would write. Now, onto my tip regarding locations. My philosophy on locations is that you can capture great images ANYWHERE! Sure it's always fun to have an inspiring locations but I genuinely believe that when you have a more challenging location your images are more creative and capture the essence of your child more than the essence of the location. Below is a photo of the most uninspiring location I could find. It's just right out my front door in my condo complex. As you see one of the more uninspiring spots on the face of the earth.
Here are the images I took in this most uninspiring location...
I am going to issue you all a challenge - schedule a time, choose some darling outfits, set aside a few favorite toys and go to a lack luster location and snaps images of your little ones with the intent that you will capture the essence of their big personalities.
