My daughter on the way to the Pancakes on the Plaza event in Santa Fe. Happy 4th to all my US friends.
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Happy 4th July
A few shots from today’s visit to the Rodeo de Santa Fe matinee.
The evenings are better for flattering light, but not so great for a five-year old who’d been playing soccer at 8am.
And I got to wear my cowboy hat, which is quite the big deal for an Englishy-Irishy guy like me.
Just had a few days in Southern California, which included some Disneyland time, as you can see from the above shot our our daughter at the end of a busy day.
As a confirmed Disney sceptic before I first went to the park last year, I’m now something of a zealous convert.
This is partly because the whole thing makes my daughter so happy, which is hard for a parent to argue with.
But it’s partly because I’ve been thinking a lot recently about running companies based on core passions and painstaking implementation, and few organizations do that as well as Disney.
On Saturday my friend Ned and I got together to explore an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while. ‘Wouldn’t it be great,’ I thought, ‘to help photo enthusiast parents take better photos of their kids?’
I’d bring my stuff over as if it was a shoot I was hired for, but as well as taking photos myself, I’d also help Ned with his images.
So we tried it. The rough plan was this:
A photo from when the trip was a vacation: Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.As you’re probably aware, a malicious Icelandic volcanic ash cloud has gummed up the works good and proper over here in Europe. No flights across 20 countries since Thursday. We’re supposed to leave Dublin tomorrow (Monday) but our flight’s one of the many that just never happened.
We’re rebooked on Thursday, but it’s anyone’s guess at this stage if that flight’s going anywhere either.
It sounds nice to be forced to stay longer, but it’s not a vacation if you can’t go home. Especially if you’re traveling with a four year old.
We’ve scored some accommodation for the next couple of nights, and I’ll have internet access intermittently for emergency work, but if you could send happy thoughts my way (and tell Aer Lingus to offer some actual customer service) that would be nice.
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Happy Birthday, Lucas
One from a birthday party last week. The party was held in a funky roller rink that was alternately pitch dark or neon-lit, so I despaired of getting any decent shots, especially as the kids were whizzing by on skates or scooters. But there’s something about candlelight you just can’t beat.
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Zack Arias speaks at Photocamp Utah
I’ve had a bit of photog-crush on Atlanta music photographer (and much more) Zack Arias, every since I watched his great Transform video.
Here he is at Photocamp Utah with an hour of funny, honest and inspiring advice to would-be photographers. Standouts for me were his commitment to being a good photographer not a good photoshopper, being good to your clients and getting over your shyness – ‘People are the only people who pay’.
Enjoy.
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Finally got my Strobe on
It took longer than I’d planned, but I’m now fully set up for some off-camera lighting adventures.
Some AlienBee triggers (the CST and CSRB, if you’re interested) and one of the Starving Student kits from Midwest Photo Exchange saw me right, and while I’m definitely a newbie at this, it turns out that some of what I’d already read made sense when I started to practice yesterday.
My aim (at least at first) with the strobism is to use it to make it look like I haven’t really used artificial light – a simple one light set up, working to support natural light.
My daughter Fionnuala was happy to help out as a model (so long as she got to take some pictures too). And I found another willing model – our loco cat Colin Feral.
Both of these shots have natural light coming from one side, balanced with the flash (through an umbrella) on the other side.
I can definitely see how this will be useful in some of the more challenging interior locations I find myself in (and outdoors, too I’m sure).
Santa Fe might not have been as hard hit as some parts of the US, but the recession hasn’t left us entirely alone. These pictures were taken on a walk around the downtown area yesterday.
I’m always pleased if you hire me to photograph your children, but most people don’t live in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, and based on the ‘teach a man to fish’ theory I’m keen to share what I’ve learned with as many people as possible
I think everyone can take better pictures of their kids, regardless of the camera they have or their experience.
So here is the first in a series of tips for taking better photographs of children.
None of these first tips require adjusting your camera’s settings in any way except zooming in and out.
I’ll get to more technical tips later, but often the biggest improvements come from taking a more thoughtful approach to what you’re photographing.
And that won’t cost you a penny in new gear.
1) What are you trying to say?
As the photographer and writer David du Chemin points out, a good photograph isn’t just a picture of something, it’s a picture about something. This might sound like splitting hairs, but bearing this in mind is the single biggest thing that will improve your photographs. You can have all the technical craft in the world, unless you know what you’re trying to capture and communicate then your photos won’t have much to say.
Which is why I don’t like formally posed shots very much because arranging people in a pattern and making them smile often only says ‘they made us smile, and look how awkward we are’.
You know your own children better than anyone. What is it about them that you find fascinating or that melts your heart? What is it in their character makes them you, and how do you feel about that? It could be as simple as wanting to show how beautiful you think they are, or how funny. Or you might love the serious concentration they devote to their painting. Whatever it is, that’s a good place to start. Imagine you were a photojournalist given the job of producing a set of images that showed some key aspects of your child – what are the activities, moods or emotions you’d like to communicate?