# Recent child portrait session



## KAikens318 (Aug 15, 2010)

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## tirediron (Aug 15, 2010)

Nice.


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## DennyCrane (Aug 15, 2010)

The best ones are where you're at or below the child's eye level. When you're towering over the kid, the shots suffer... at least in my opinion. But the rest are pretty good!


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## KAikens318 (Aug 16, 2010)

DennyCrane said:


> The best ones are where you're at or below the child's eye level. When you're towering over the kid, the shots suffer... at least in my opinion. But the rest are pretty good!



So you like all but 2? Lol.

With the rock climbing one I tried to get her at eye level but there was a line of hideous cars and houses on the hill above that turned the composition into crap. 

Thanks though, I appreciate it!


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## PerfectlyFlawed (Aug 16, 2010)

Cute kiddos


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## SrBiscuit (Aug 17, 2010)

could use some fill light in most.
cute shots though.


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## Naphtali14 (Aug 17, 2010)

Yeah you definitely could have used some fill light.

1. I like the shot. The fence is nice however the white ledge or whatever it is in the top left corner is very distracting in my opinion.

2. Good contemplative pose. However her face is very dark.

3. Nice shot. I kinda wish the sun spots weren't there.

4-5. In these two shots the child's left eye is much too dark. This ruins the pictures for me.

6. I like.

7. Meh.. The backdrop around his/her head is distracting.


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## JimmyJaceyMom (Aug 18, 2010)

Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying it to be mean.  I can tell that you have a real passion for photography and I know the best way that i learned was through true critique.  These seem a bit like snapshots to me.  There are no catchlights in any of the eyes, with exception of the last one where the eyes are nice and bright.  Look to shoot in areas with even light like that one was done in.  I assume the others were taken in full sun.  To start out, look for shaded areas where there are less distracting elements like in the plain grass so you can take a look at the eyes of the children and see if the light is hitting them.  Keep shooting!


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## KAikens318 (Aug 18, 2010)

JimmyJaceyMom said:


> Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying it to be mean.  I can tell that you have a real passion for photography and I know the best way that i learned was through true critique.  These seem a bit like snapshots to me.  There are no catchlights in any of the eyes, with exception of the last one where the eyes are nice and bright.  Look to shoot in areas with even light like that one was done in.  I assume the others were taken in full sun.  To start out, look for shaded areas where there are less distracting elements like in the plain grass so you can take a look at the eyes of the children and see if the light is hitting them.  Keep shooting!



Critique is always welcome, I don't take offense. How do you get catchlights when you are not using a flash? The ones that were under the trees were taken in the shade, the ones on the playground itself were in the direct sunlight. I would have loved to do it around sundown for better lighting but last time we tried that none of the kids were having it with all the bugs!  Would you recommend a reflector or white circle of paper above the camera to add a little light to the eyes? Thanks!


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## JimmyJaceyMom (Aug 18, 2010)

Almost all of the pictures I take are with natural light, no flash and I hardly ever have enough time to stick a reflector in front of them - they're too fast! lol.  Do you have an older child that will sit still that you can use for some practice?  If so.  Once the sun has gone down some, put them in the grass in nice even shade.  Move them around in a circle (slowly  ) and look at the way the light changes as you turn them.  You'll see light in there as long as the sun is still out.  

Here is an example photo - the light in his eyes is just from the sun.

Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


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## KAikens318 (Aug 18, 2010)

JimmyJaceyMom said:


> Almost all of the pictures I take are with natural light, no flash and I hardly ever have enough time to stick a reflector in front of them - they're too fast! lol.  Do you have an older child that will sit still that you can use for some practice?  If so.  Once the sun has gone down some, put them in the grass in nice even shade.  Move them around in a circle (slowly  ) and look at the way the light changes as you turn them.  You'll see light in there as long as the sun is still out.
> 
> Here is an example photo - the light in his eyes is just from the sun.
> 
> Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing!



Thanks! Most of the kids I shoot don't sit still for a moment but I have some adult friends who will help. Lol. I hate shooting with flash because it just makes it look...snapshot. I am shooting an indoor wedding in a month or so and I am worried about that but I have a great diffuser for my SB-600


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## ericonoahu (Aug 18, 2010)

For a few dollars at the office supply place you can buy - can't think of the name, its like poster board but much thicker and sturdy. Leave one side white, glue some foil to the other side.

Stand your subject in the shade and have someone direct either the foil reflected sun or the white side reflected sun. Play around with it. 

Alternatively, use the whole thing to just block the direct sunlight from their face.

I do this to avoid harsh shadows on my subject's faces. You can also buy 40" round reflector/diffusors on Amazon for around $35. Those come with gold, white, silver, and also a diffuser and they fold up for easy carrying around.

The following is taken with nothing other than natural light and one reflector and very little PP. She is standing in the shade of a gazebo from which I am shooting - most of her from head on down is in the shade. The reflector is not.


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## Flash Harry (Aug 19, 2010)

And ^^^^^^^^^^ thats how its done if you dont use flash


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## JimmyJaceyMom (Aug 19, 2010)

That is a beautiful girl and a nice pose but the background looks a bit blown to me.  I would think that to start with learning about the light she might have an easier time in open shade with an evenly lit background to start. It's a lot to take in to understand that if you meter on your subject properly and your background is brighter than your subject it will blow the background.  If she starts simple maybe it will be an easier concept to grasp.


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## KAikens318 (Aug 19, 2010)

I think a trip to the dollar store for some foamcore and tinfoil in in the works.


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## JimmyJaceyMom (Aug 19, 2010)

Will you have an assistant on hand when you use your reflector.  Just sayin, when you shoot small kids that are constantly moving you may find it difficult to throw a reflector in their direction.  If you work on 'finding the light' first, and put the child in that general direction to play and do their thing, you'll get much more natural shots!


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## KAikens318 (Aug 19, 2010)

JimmyJaceyMom said:


> Will you have an assistant on hand when you use your reflector.  Just sayin, when you shoot small kids that are constantly moving you may find it difficult to throw a reflector in their direction.  If you work on 'finding the light' first, and put the child in that general direction to play and do their thing, you'll get much more natural shots!




No, I won't have an assistant, but then again, I do not do photo shoots with children very often for the pure and simple fact that they don't stop moving. I worked at Sears Portrait Studio and all the pressure from the parents to get their little 'angels' smiling and looking right at the camera made me despise photographing children. I gear myself more towards weddings and sports photography (Yes they are always moving in sports, but it doesn't matter if they aren't looking at the camera or smiling)


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## JimmyJaceyMom (Aug 20, 2010)

Oh!  haha yes I could see how shooting that many kids and dealing with that many parents would burn you out!  lol.  I thought that from this post being children, that this is what you were looking to get in to.


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## KAikens318 (Aug 21, 2010)

JimmyJaceyMom said:


> Oh!  haha yes I could see how shooting that many kids and dealing with that many parents would burn you out!  lol.  I thought that from this post being children, that this is what you were looking to get in to.



Lol DEFINITELY not. I really would love to be into sports photography, but am focusing on weddings and adult portraits right now.  I did this shoot for a friend, the oldest girl lives in NC with her mom and she was visiting with dad for the summer, so this was a little surprise shoot for him so he would have some pictures of her when she went back home.


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## ericonoahu (Aug 31, 2010)

This one also was taken with no flash, one reflector, sunset on her left and a little behind, gold reflector about 45% to her right.


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## Fifthphotography (Aug 31, 2010)

> Thanks! I hate shooting with flash because it just makes it look...snapshot. I am shooting an indoor wedding in a month or so and I am worried about that but I have a great diffuser for my SB-600


 Id reccomend getting your flash off the camera. this is what i used Nikon SC-29 TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord with AF Assist - 4766 - B&H until I got my d90 and switched to wireless. You will see a drastic improvement using off camera lighting. you can do some cool things with flash and low light.

shot after right after sunset with a sb-600 in a micro softbox camera left  



Izak-10


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## KAikens318 (Sep 1, 2010)

Fifthphotography said:


> > Thanks! I hate shooting with flash because it just makes it look...snapshot. I am shooting an indoor wedding in a month or so and I am worried about that but I have a great diffuser for my SB-600
> 
> 
> Id reccomend getting your flash off the camera. this is what i used Nikon SC-29 TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord with AF Assist - 4766 - B&H until I got my d90 and switched to wireless. You will see a drastic improvement using off camera lighting. you can do some cool things with flash and low light.
> ...




The only problem that I am worried about with the wedding is that it is going to be a room that is PACKED and things will be moving quickly, I may not have time to set up the wireless triggers and the off camera flash. I am shooting a wedding on Saturday too but that will be outdoors (As long as the hurricane doesn't hit us)


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## dannystoria (Sep 13, 2010)

The last picture is absolutely adorable!!


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## KAikens318 (Sep 13, 2010)

dannystoria said:


> The last picture is absolutely adorable!!


 

Isn't he the cutest little thing? I was trying to get him to smile the whole time but the only thing that did it was barking like a dog. Lol. Yet another reason I do not normally shoot children's portraits.

I have another children's shoot with a 3 year old and a 4 year old next weekend...they know me which is good and they are pretty good listeners so I am hoping we can get it done quickly without too much fuss. We are going to try some in-studio and if that doesn't work, out to the park we go.


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