Do you ever notice the pictures that draw you in and make you feel part of the picture are the close-up ones? It’s because there isn’t a distracting background. Here is an example:
It is a cute picture, however, notice the background around her. Now, look at this picture.
Doesn’t that look so much better and draw you in? Don’t be afraid to zoom. Play around with it. Create a variety of different shots.
Have fun,
Christina
PS Claim Your Free Chapter of my photography ebook at http://www.yourkidsphotoebook.com
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First of all, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in quite a while. I’m sure you know how busy it is being a wife and mother. Trying to work on my business, but getting interrupted when I’m into something good. I thought I would re-vamp my blog, however, that is taking a long time and then I stopped posting. So, please forgive me. I would like to get this blog going and have it be interactive. Well, guess what? My daughter just got up out of bed. Hopefully I can finish this post without any interruptions.
My family and I went to an indoor waterpark this past weekend. We had so much fun and of course, I took my camera. When I took my camera out of my bag, my 3 year old asked me to take her picture.
She stood in front of me and started posing. I thought it was so funny because I didn’t tell her anything. She did it automatically. That is because ever since she was born, I took her portraits and posed her. Now she does it automatically.
My Very First Portrait Of My Daughter
With this post, I wanted to start from the very beginning and tell you how I started taking pictures of my children. I had heard many stories from other Moms about their experience with a professional photographer. Many were not good….
They weren’t able to choose the pose they wanted.
They had to buy a whole package where they just wanted a few pictures.
Their children started fussing when they saw the camera.
And many more
Valentine’s Day is one month away. Why not take your children’s Valentine portraits? I like to create Valentine’s portraits for the Great Grandparents and Grandparents. Here is a picture I have taken and it is very simple to do:
I took this picture in front of our fireplace. Anywhere is good as long as the background looks pleasing. I used a rose as a prop that I had around my house. I also gave her a derby to wear. We had a lot of fun taking this picture.
Some ideas for this picture…
The other day, I was thinking of ways to take my kid’s portraits in the winter. It is hard because when it snows, they are all bundled up. You can only see their face. That wouldn’t make a great portrait. A great picture, but not portrait. It is also hard because the snow is so bright and most of the time they are squinting for their picture.
So many people stick with the traditional method of taking pictures. Going to a portrait studio, wearing formal clothes, basically having the same pose. To me, sometimes that is boring. I’m not saying all pictures are like these and everyone is doing this. I’m just saying step out of the box. Take the pictures yourself. Do different things. Talk to your child, let them pick the location, the pose and even the smile - natural or goofy sometimes.
Many people think they can’t take their own children’s portraits. I say, "Why not?" What is stopping you?
When my daughter starting losing her teeth, I wanted to take her pictures. Then she lost both front teeth and I knew that would be a great photo moment. So I decided to take her 8 year old portraits with her missing her two front teeth.
This is a great way to remember what stage she is at in her life. Here are some examples:
Another thing about these pictures are I just took them this morning. We went outside and it took about 10 minutes to take them. No rushing to the photographer, no waiting in lines, no paying sitting fees. Just 5 minutes for her to get dressed, comb her hair and off we were to our backyard.
It’s that time of year. Back to school. Don’t forget to take your children’s school portraits. Do you know that you can take them yourself and not pay for the school to do them?
Be original, be creative. Pick a location such as a tree, bench, flowers, etc., and start taking their pictures. Then upload them to an online photo developer and have reprints made.
People will react more to your pictures than the traditional school pictures. Here are some of my daughter’s school pictures. She loves this dress so a lot of her pictures are in this dress. Make it comfortable for them. I may take more to have more of a fall look instead of summer.
I was all ready this evening to take a shower after a day spent at an amusement park. However, my youngest daughter got me off track, which I’m glad she did.
She came out of her bedroom with a pink hat on. She looked so cute, I just had to take her picture. We went outside and look at the portraits I got.
