{Gear}

• Canon 5D {main camera}
• Canon 7D {pullbacks}
• 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS {main lens}
• 50mm f/1.2 {pullbacks}
• Lenshood – yes
• White reflector

{Settings}

• All shot in AV mode between f/2.8 and f/3.5
• WB – Auto
• Format – RAW

{Editing}

• Images culled in Lightroom
• All colors edited in Lightroom {no Photoshop! Doesn’t happen often, but I set myself a challenge}. B&Ws edited in Photoshop 4.
• Processing started with One Willow Presets Timeless Collection {‘Lyric’} and then tweaked for each shot, including dodging/burning on all images. Black & whites in Photoshop with Florabella’s ‘B&W Film’ from the Luxe II collection of actions. That little ditty always makes my heart sing!
• Poses inspired by Skye Hardwick’s posing guides

{Pullbacks}

Janie asking to see how mine were looking. A really useful part of shooting together - comparing composition.

Shooting with Janie - due to speckling from the sunlight and the trees, we were waiting until the moments she walked into the clean shade before hitting the trigger.

Posing with Emily - love the look on her face :)

I love these little shacks in the playground. This wasn't in shade, but it was so overcast that there were no problems. The catchlights are from the sky while the reflector kept her face evenly lit. This is ideal for me. I'd rather still have natural catchlights when using a reflector.

There are all these little lean-tos in the forest and I knew they'd be a good place to shoot. Gave us more options than just static posing and Emily had somewhere to place her hands and arms.

Daniel showed up shortly after we started shooting Emily. So here we are photographing him where he decided to plunk down on the path. I like to keep the parents behind me because when the interract, it keeps them looking in my direction.

Pretty straightforward portrait.

{Before & Afters}

LOVED the look on her face and chose this shot out of many because of it. When I was at her house helping to choose wardrobe the day before, I instantly pictured this shot when I saw that adorable hat. It frames her face so well and her little whisp of hair in the front is adorable. I wanted it to be one of the few B&Ws of the session because it's all about her eyes & soul here!

This was shot in full-on sunshine with no shade. Was just a perfect moment, really. Edited with lots of dodging & burning to make her stand out from the background as much as possible.

Slightly straightened and then edited with the One Willow presets mentioned above. The one I used for the whole session was 'Lyric'. This is my favourite shot of the whole session. Mostly, though, because of the 3 layers. The foreground in the doorway, the window behind her and then trees with juicy bokeh behind that. Makes it very interesting to me.

This is my second favourite image from the session. I love the jewel tones.

Daniel's images were processed with a different preset from the same collecion but I wanted his session to appear warmer. I did my best to remove the pole behind him, although I must admit I did lose patience for the whole idea. I should've been more mindful of what was in the background.

This little area of woods is amazing and the shots needed very little retouching. Although I minimised his red cheeks in some of the shots, I liked them here because he was smiling so big.

This is probably my favourite from Daniel's session. Straightened and recomposed, but still kept the dead-center composition because I think it says "this is me" and I use it at least a couple times in every session. As nice as a 1/3 or off-center composition feels to look at, a centered composition feels bold and rebellious for me at times and I love it here.

• Camera: 5DmkII
• Lens: 50mm f/1.2
• Weather: slightly cloudy, 3 hours before sundown
• Processed: Florabella Luxe II

I started out with little guy ben. We all hiked a little ways into the forest to get away from people and find a clearing where we could settle down for a bit. The light coming through the trees behind him was luscious and made for an idea backlit scene in which for me to work. So I started asking him things like "if your mum was a Star Wars character, which one would she be?" I think he said Jar Jar Binks :)

Another of the first shots of Ben. I always say that you can break the rules once you know how to master them. And so it's really important to know why/how to use the rule of thirds in composition. But once you do, you can then successfully break the rule. I like to sometimes photograph children dead-center. I feel that a photo like this is saying "Hi, I'm Ben. This is me." with no frills or anything complicating the experience of getting to know Ben!

Again, composed dead-center for a reason. "World, meet Amie. Amie, meet the world." I also got this shot while asking her silly questions. I think I asked her to close her eyes and think of her favorite candy and then pop her eyes open and tell me what it is. I shot from slightly below because I wanted her to be dominant and I just think that she's so.darn.cute

Now that you've met Amie and she's established that she's the boss, this is a more vulnerable, intimate portrait of her. This is her "yea, I'm sassy but I'm still only little" shot. I love braids as you know and I love this simple portrait which I composed slightly off-center. I get a shot like this by setting my subject in their space and then holding my camera to my eye while walking around them. I tell them "don't move, just follow me with your head." And then there's a moment where you know you've got it and hopefully only need to snap once.

And then we have James who is so much like my Elijah. Extremely smart, hard to get to stop talking. You either have to fit into James' mold or get the heck out cuz he ain't gonna sit and pose for anyone! A very free spirit who loves climbing trees. So when I turned around after photographing Amie and he was in a tree, I just went with it and the bokeh behind him turned out amazing. Of course, shot very nearly wide open and backlit. I love the way the light in the forest twinkles in his eyes and that laugh is genuine.

Nothing about James could be forced. I had to capture what was real. I think we were talking about Star Wars here and he said his brother would be Chewbacca.

Photographing kids together ain't easy. So here's where we started and it was a little stiff...

...so we let off some steam with some running...

...and ended here! Gorgeous kids, super fun session and so many laughs.

 

...from my first shot at a Beloved session of my own

I’ve promised for a long time that I’m going to talk about Beloved. I mentioned it last week in this post about using the Beloved concept for the first time in a family session and it was very successful.

I discovered Beloved by way of The Rock n Roll Bride blog when blogger Kat and her husband Gareth had a Beloved session here in England with a photographer named Marianne Taylor. I immediately sought Marianne out online, dropped my jaw at her work and then booked her for our own Beloved session. We had to wait about 4 months for that date to roll around and I was pretty much sick with excitement from that point on. I kept looking at that session with Kat & Gareth and wanting to know how she got such intimate shots.

Enter ‘Beloved’.

So I googled this word ‘Beloved’ and found that it is being known as a new genre in photography. The brain child of Jesh de Rox, Beloved is about capturing the essence of a couple who have been married for some time. As we were told at the beginning of our session, “this is not a photo shoot.” It was about us having an experience together and her being in the background capturing those moments. Those real moments which weren’t staged or forced. Every laugh was real, every smile genuine. But more on our own experience later…so yeah, Beloved is about inviting couples into an experience and being there to capture that experience. What they end up with is a snapshot of their relationship in its truest, deepest sense with no strings attached. And if they choose to display those images to continue seeing, they won’t just be pictures. They will be memories.

One of my favorite shots from our own Beloved session with Marianne Taylor.

When I found Jesh de Rox, the photographer who has birthed this concept, I listened to a speech he gave in Las Vegas in 2010 about Beloved. You can find it here on the bottom right of this page - just click play. It’s very long and a bit frustrating that you can’t see it as he’s speaking, but it was a good introduction to his mind and how he approaches Beloved. I still felt in the dark about Beloved after that – I didn’t really get it – but when he tweeted that he would be doing a webcast in the middle of the night UK time, I joined in. It was about 1am. Jesh is a very soft spoken and I think he’s brilliant but I have found it difficult to stay connected when he’s speaking. He kind of takes a really long time to say what he wants to say, but if you take him as he is, knowing that he is completely unique, you just might come away with something you didn’t have before. So after ‘meeting’ Jesh, I could understand where Beloved was coming from but as far as how to actually attain it? No clue.

After that webcast, there was a chance to buy his Beloved Field Guide at a discounted price. There was very little information about it online and I knew I couldn’t be the only one feeling completely in the dark so I bought it knowing that at least, I would be able to photograph it and do a review for people wondering what it was. At best, it could change my life. So when it came and I read through the cards, many of them made me laugh. I thought “there is no way I’m going to say that to another human being!” Things about feeling the other person’s love energies and filling yourself up with love. {I’m paraphrasing…I don’t remember if that’s exactly what it said}. Some of them were really fun to invite couples into an action scenario and I felt comfortable with those.

So with the new field guide under my arm, I invited my friends Marcus & Elbrie to be my first Beloved experiment as part of the filming for my wedding commercial. It was really fun and they’re great on camera. I did all of the fun invites & none of the soppy ones. So needless to say, the photos are fun & lively but not particularly deep or emotional. I was frustrated and just didn’t foresee how I’d be able to get the emotion I saw in that first session with Kat & Gareth. So I put down the field guide and decided that I wouldn’t ‘get it’ until I experienced it for myself. And then I began the months long wait for our session with Marianne.

It

felt

like

forever.

Two weeks ago, Steven and I dropped the three kids off at babysitters and headed to a park near London. We had a great time in the car laughing and singing our favorite songs and talking about our relationship. We picked Marianne up at her house just around the corner and spent over an hour in the park having the most wonderful time I think we’ve had together in years. To my amusement {and probably fate}, Marianne started by turning us towards each other and asking us to {yup, you guessed it} “feel the ground beneath our feet, feel each other’s beingness” and so on. And you know what?! I didn’t think there was anything weird about that! When I read it in the field guide, you’ll remember, I was like “nu uh..no way am I gonna get that soppy with people” but it clicked in that moment:

This isn’t about me. This is about them.

I dunno, maybe Marianne did feel weird the first few times she said these very deep things to total strangers, but in that moment, I found myself following her gentle direction as she did the opposite of what most photographers do: she turned my attention toward my husband, my partner, my mate in life. And it started to become clearer: this was not a photo shoot. She just happened to be there.

Within a few short moments, I didn’t even hear the click of her shutter. After our time together, we floated home and started the two week wait to see our images. We just saw them last night and Marianne has just blogged them today. We watched the gallery over and over and both shared tears.

Now, I really do believe that Beloved doesn’t just have to be for marries couples. If you grasp the concept that this is about photographing the moments that result from inviting anyone with a deep, connected, beloved relationship {mom/son, dad/daughter, husband/wife} then you can draw those real reactions -those genuine emotional responses- out of just about anyone. I’m really excited about continuing my exploration into Beloved and how it may help shape me into the photographer I’m going to be.

{Further Reading}

My review of the Beloved Field Guide {edited with my new perspective}

What I learned from my own Beloved session {by Brooke Snow}

I’ve been looking into Beloved a lot lately and will write more about it very soon. But in short, Beloved is {in my own words} all about giving married couples an experience, not a photo shoot. It’s all about inviting them to share in something deep and intimate and then photographing what unfolds. This happens by way of ‘experiential invites’ which invite the couple {or family} to share an experience through an explorational activity like the ABC game or ‘Sumo’ game you’ll see below.

I’ve been mulling it over and thinking about how Beloved could work for any relationship, not just married couples. So when I asked my friend, Denise, if I could photograph her with her sons, I knew that I wanted to incorporate Beloved into that session. Denise is a really amazing mom. She loves her boys madly & deeply and wears her feelings on her sleeve at all times. So I knew they would make great candidates for my first Beloved Family session.

• Camera: Canon 5dmkII
• Lens: 50mm f/1.2
• Time of day: One hour before sunset
• Processing: One Willow presets for Lightroom

We started in this nook of the woods with a very thick overhang of skinny pine trees. No worries about the sun streaming in and no dappling. It used to take me a while to get in the flow and start getting the 'good ones', but this shot was right from the beginning. I had them taking turns with the letters of the alphabet and naming a trait of the person next to them starting with the letter they were on. A great icebreaker!

I like to rotate around my subjects and try shots from all different angels. This shot didn't make the final cut, but it's a good way to throw in the fact that this is something I like doing.

It's not always easy photographing teenagers. I mean...who doesn't already feel awkward in front of the camera when they're NOT going through teenage hood? I had his family behind me continuing the ABC game above. I got some great laughs, but I really liked this one best. It's very 'him'. He's a really handsome guy. Now, when shooting in the trees, I always try to be aware of trees and branches not looking like they're growing out of people's heads, but sometimes it's inevitable and I'm not going to allow that to affect capturing the right moment. If you shoot wide open with a soft background, it won't be the focal point anyway.

I just looove those autumn colors! This shot didn't make the final cut either but it sure was fun. This is called 'sumo' and my husband and I did it in our own Beloved session with the brilliant photographer Marianne Taylor. Anyway, in 'sumo' they imagined all the love they had for the other person and tried with all that love to push them over. Fun with 2 people, a bit chaotic with three but fun nonetheless!

I LOVE this shot. The look on both of their faces! However, it was taken at f/5.6 just as I was getting started setting up for these shots.

...and this is the wide open f/1.4 shot where the subjects truly are the subject. I LOVE the depth. And this, folks, is my #1 fave shot of the session.

Matthew was the little guy and by little I just mean that he hasn't outgrown his mommy yet! He wears his feelings on his sleeve just like his mom and took part in the invites so well. The invite in this shot was for Matthew to tell his mom something he's proud of her for. Just after this shot when I turned around, he said, "mom, it's almost your birthday what would you like? A good quality mascara?" HA HA!

Once I'd gotten everything I thought I needed, we moved to this location for some more experimental shots. I wasn't absolutely certain that they would turn out but they ended up making the final cut. I'd run out of invites at this point and were back to the ABC game. In tipis shot, some strangers were coming up behind us and the three were laughing at their reaction to stepping into our session. I didn't hurry out of the way because I wanted to photograph them while they were looking away from me. It was dusk at this point so I shot wide open and tried to keep them on the same plane so they were all in focus.

I like to throw a few quirky crops in here and there but try to keep them tame unless I know that my clients are really into it. Mostly, I just do them for me :)

I ended with shots of Denise. I had her boys behind me entertaining her and since I'd told her that our session was 'finished', she was really relaxed. I should really keep telling people that!

Push past the awkward moment

It gets easier as you move on in your skill, but photographing portraits for a living can be really difficult because at times, you’re so close to people, so in their personal space that it can feel uncomfortable or awkward. You have a choice: you can either take a quick shot and then move onto something else or you can make use of the close, intimate nature of the moment and photograph more than just their face. You might catch a glimpse of their soul.

I never settle for less than this when photographing children. I don’t want pictures of their face – there are millions of those in their mom’s iPhone. No, I want to get that twinkle, that…you know…that moment when you’re capturing THEM. So how do I practically apply this approach in my own work?

I consider a few feet to be 'close'

I get really close to my subjects. When I first started my business, I loved zoom lenses because I believed that stepping back and getting out of someone’s personal space gave them the room to breathe and relax. I thought that this was the best approach to getting real & honest portraits. As I evolved and my lens collection began taking shape, I found that they were getting shorter as I was instinctively bringing myself closer and closer to my subjects. And my work was getting better and better. People didn’t feel any less nervous or uncomfortable just because I was a few yards away from them. They just felt uncomfortable and vulnerable.

I focus on a face and then wait for my inner yes -the decisive moment- to tell me when to hit the shutter. With children, I find the spot from where I’m going to photograph, hold the camera to my eye with my focus steady and then I start talking to them. I snap a few photos here and there as their expressions change, but that’s mostly just so they don’t feel like they’re doing something wrong (“why isn’t she taking my picture yet? What does she want from me?”) and then I wait for the moment where they become themselves. Sometimes, it’s just the splitest of seconds. Sometimes it’s a laugh. Sometimes it’s the real smile after a fake laugh. The more I’ve photographed children, the more accurately I’m able to anticipate these moments.

Sometimes I actually create the awkward moment. I’ll focus on them and then say, “ok now don’t smile” while I’m smiling behind my camera. Then I wait. And wait. And wait. And when the moment seems like it can’t get any more painfully awkward, I think of Louis and push past it. And then something wonderful usually happens. Sometimes not. But unless you learn to start embracing the still, silent, awkward moments, you’ll never know the power of just waiting.

For those who follow Gracie May Photography, you may have seen this session ‘Farmography’ from my holiday in Yorkshire.

{Technical Details}

Camera: Canon 5D mk II. When I got the full frame camera, I told myself that I would still use my 7D often and I feel guilty that I haven’t stuck to that promise to myself. The 7D is by far the most wonderful piece of equipment I own for many reasons, but for image quality, I just can’t stop picking up my 5D. I’ve also been loving the capabilities it has in backlit situations which is handy since I’ve been discovering the joy of backlighting. So yes…this is another session a la 5DmkII.

Lens: This is my first session with my new 50mm f/1.2 lens. The clarity is astounding. You know how when you take full length portraits and then zoom into the face and it’s all garbly and not so sharp? That doesn’t happen often with this lens – I’m pleasantly surprise time and time again when zooming in and scanning my image at 100%.

Settings: AV mode between f/3.2 and 5.6. I’m a wide open junkie but didn’t want to risk missing focus on these shots so forced myself to stick around 5.6.

{Location}

My friend’s farm in Whitby, N. Yorkshire. The same farm where I did this session in the Spring. The weather was moody and dark with a scary sky and strong wind. We carried furniture out into one of the fields. Although it was cold, the girls were troopers and Cameron was great even though I’m sure he would have rather been playing. He required very little direction and just naturally fell into those poses.

{Editing}

They were edited with -no big surprise- MCP Action’s Fusion set.

That said, I’m also going to focus on falling back in love with photography the way I used to be and start taking photos of my children again. Brooke’s class is going to get me there! I’m required to post my homework assignments here on my blog which is great because it means that I still get to interact with you, my readers, and my summer would feel pretty weird without that :) This isn’t the final homework assignment, just the first session I’ve done since starting the class.

Notes:

• Camera: 5dmkii
• Lens: 50mm 1.4
• Format: RAW
• Edited in Photoshop using the ‘Lullaby’ action from Florabella’s Luxe II set. This action was formulated for newborn sessions because it lightens, removes red in the skin tones and adds a creamy light. But I knew I wanted to use it for these right away.

{Week 1: Conflict}

This week, we were encouraged to zero-in on conflict which is an important element in story telling. The conflict here was Jack making his own snack for the first time ever. He was so proud!

{Technical Details}

• Camera: Canon 5D mkII
• Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
• Settings: AV mode set wide open at f/2.8
• File format: RAW

{Location & Weather}

A lavender farm which has only 2 open public days per year. There were many people around and they either had to be cloned out in Photoshop or I had to wait for them to clear before taking the shots. The weather was overcast and warm.

{The subject}

My friend’s daughter Serenity who is extremely chatty and outgoing. She’s so little {I think she’s 3?} but very clever. My favorite quote of hers is from a Christmas party last year when she ran up to me and said, “Elijah’s mum, Elijah’s mum! Do you like my dress? {twirling} I got it on eBay.” Being that she’s so outgoing, I was surprised to see her go very shy and still once the camera was on. But she was very up for it and kindly went with all of my suggestions – my favourite kind of subject!

{Wardrobe}

The two pettiskirts were purchased at a children’s boutique on a whim. There are many more to be found on Prop Insanity. The little white top was just an under shirt from ASDA.

{A funny story}

There’s always something to be learned or remembered from your sessions. This time, I had to get bold like a lion to stand up for this little cub. I was crouched down getting this shot –> and some Japanese tourists who were visiting the attraction were taking photos of each other. Well…the guy with the camera got down right behind me and was literally taking photos of Serenity right over my shoulder! I turned around and nicely said, “Oh I’m sorry but you can’t take her photo please.” He nodded and said, “yes yes ok ok” and I continued. But so did his shutter! I turned again and pointed to his camera and said more firmly, “NO pictures”. Well…Serenity’s parents were over talking to my husband and I was feeling pretty much like it was my job to handle the whole thing once and for all because, nice and smiley as he was, he kept taking photos. I finally had to put on my mom voice {you DON’T want to hear my mom voice} and firmly tell him once and for all that he was NOT to be taking photos of Serenity. Needless to say, he ran away :) But somewhere out there are pictures just like these which were taken right over my shoulder {sigh}.

{Editing}

These photos were edited with MCP Actions’ Fusion set and magic skin.

{B&As}

A couple B&As for you:

B&W conversions done in Lightroom with One Willow’s B&W set

• Day 1: Introduction
• Day 2: 5 Tips for Posing Children
• Day 3: Posing for Grownups and Teens
• Day 4: 4 Tips for Posing Hands
• Day 5: 5 Tips for Posing Families

Now for some questions that came through in the week…

Q. “Sometimes I get parents that have stuff in mind and then I don’t have the voice to come out and say lets do it differently. Does that 50% game work with the older ages too?”

A. Ha ha yeah…the 50/50 game I do with kids (“you do a pose you want and then a pose I want” and then alternate). The time for hatching out their ideas is during the pre-session consultation. Tell them this then. For example, “let’s talk about any ideas you have so that on session day, I can be free to do what I do and already have my shots in mind.” This sets the expectation for them that while you’re working, you need to be left alone. If they don’t get it, you can do what I do from the very beginning…set them a nice chair with a coffee off to the side and ask if they mind you going and working with the child(ren). In their view, of course, but not close enough to interfere. This is something I say during the initial phone call when I explain how a session with me works. I explain that the most authentic images usually happen when the subject doesn’t feel that they’re on stage and since they’re paying money for you, they’ll likely oblige because they don’t want to run the risk of messing up your work.

Q. “What’s really wrong with a little boy standing with his hands on his hips? How is that “girly”? If it is “girly” why in the world does it matter?”

A. This is a touchy subject but I thought that I would bring it up for discussion. It is my experience that every parent I’ve worked with squirms a bit when their boy is seemingly looking a bit ‘girly’ in a feminine pose. So my opinion comes from my years working with children. Obviously, it’s ultimately up to you how you pose your clients. It was said that my comment regarding a boy having his hands on his hips is ‘reinforcing gender stereotypes’. I think if I’d said “don’t allow boys to pose holding irons or brooms” then that would be more along the lines of gender stereotypes. Body language is a whole ‘nuther thing all together. A boy can look sweet, young, delicate or fragile without looking ‘girly’ and a girl can look strong, brave, boisterous without looking like a boy. Both genders hold those qualities and it should be embraced.

Q. “Any chance you can throw something in there about posing larger people, even a family of big-bodied people? It seems to be really uncomfortable and difficult for them to sit/lay on the ground, huddle in close or pick up their children and then their photographs just look awkward so any ideas you have to help would be hugely appreciated!”

A. The first thing to acknowledge is that large people know that they’re large. As with any body type (skinny included) their body image may cause them to believe that their either larger or smaller than they are. You can tastefully discuss their body image with them which is something I may be inclined to do with any body type. Knowing how a client feels about their body is always a great thing to know. As a society we try to find ways to make people look smaller and think that smaller = more attractive, but this doesn’t need to be our primary focus when shooting large people. Now, making them appear comfortable, that’s important. And I agree, laying on the ground is a no-go. Here are a few tips I’ve found helpful:

• Use a telephoto lens or the longest zoom that you have. This will compress the shot and keep it from suffering from widening distortion. Experiment with the distortion correction in Photoshop to see if there’s any barreling that you don’t notice on first inspection.
• Don’t shoot from a low angle.
• Shoot from higher up looking down, but beware of the fact that this is a way overdone tactic for photographing larger people and throw in lots of other types of framing, not just this one.
• You can use one subject’s body to shield another (if one is lighter than the other)
• Obviously, you have the option of not photographing their whole body
• In the post this week on posing families, try the ‘huddle’ and ‘squeeze in’ poses which eliminates full body shots.

Again, thanks so much for reading this week and if you’re new, keep reading!