Gonna have to buy me a baby doll..

chanda95 · May 29, 2014

The "goal" was to practice a little more tonight..trying out some of the techniques you guys mentioned..5 minutes in and I managed to get these "beauties". The dog factor was eliminated and this is what happens when you have a 7 year old who is asked to pose for pictures without his furry buddy.

I re-sized them for ease of loading on my decrepit old laptop and lets face it..lol..these aren't exactly stellar pictures. Back to the drawing board! Thought I would share my lows and in time maybe see some improvement. :wink:

I'm gonna get this!

"If I close my eyes she won't see me and take another stupid picture"

He looks completely deranged

Absolutely no idea what's going on here..happened the second I took the picture

Again - the instant I took the picture. He looks like he is up to no good.

Digging for gold..sigh-it is here that I decided we were done for the night.

Derrel · May 29, 2014

#2, deranged, is kind of a cute expression. These would be better shot "tall". Keep shooting more often and longer, and he will soon ignore you (until he's about 29 to 30 years of age).

chanda95 · May 29, 2014

Great advice..you are right they would look better that way. I want to try and get some shots (not necessarily of him - just a variety) every single day to get a real handle on what I am doing. I think though that I am going to have to focus on shots when he is preoccupied with TV or checkers or playing outside. This standing still and let mom take the picture doesn't seem to be working out so well.

Sure struggling with this portrait stuff. Not aiming to be a professional but want better than what I am taking now. I don't seem to have the same issues with the animals or inanimate objects...at least not on this level.

I did order a cords for the flash so hoping that will give me a little more flexibility for flash placement as well.

Derrel · May 30, 2014

The more-common mom shooting photos becomes, the less of a novelty is is. You're right...when he is actively "doing something," the images will be more candid, more real, less-posed, less 'reactive to you', and more natural. I have a kid, a son, and he can now see a camera and be totally,totally natural, but he's had 50,000 pictures of him snapped over a decade. Shooting more often is better.... just ten minutes a day every day is far, far better than one straight hour on Saturday, or Sunday. Your photos **will** become better if you shoot more often and work at improving! PMA, positive mental attitude! You can DO THIS!

IzzieK · May 30, 2014

My son who is now 30 years of age used to be my model. I made it like fun when he was young...I'd asked him to jump from a platform, crawl up a big rock, play air guitar, etc., always with action and story telling what I wanted him to do instead of instructing him what to do and how to pose and all that...he enjoyed it all. We had a ball! I have taken lots and lots of photos of him from babyhood until he was 16 and he just naturally posed for me. :lol:

Now at 30 all I get is a phone call every two weeks :grumpy:

...take advantage of their youth...they grow up too quickly...

Designer · May 30, 2014

I think he's doing quite well for a 7-year-old. Seriously. He must love you a lot.

My best recommendation is to simply keep at it. Eventually he will get used to being in front of the camera and might even become a better model. Meanwhile; don't worry about the occasional acting up, just concentrate on your own performance.

Now:

When you think he is ready to stay put in one place without the wall, pose him away from the wall. The light in #3 is probably where you want to be, the others being either needing more light or just too much light.

chanda95 · May 30, 2014

Thanks all! Yeah, he's a good kid..quirky but a good kid. His main issue is he tends to be on the hyperactive side so me asking him to do this is asking a lot, and I know that. I figure if I can ever get to the point where I can take a decent picture even when he's acting up then I have made great strides in my skills. If I can photograph well under adverse situations then I should be able to do really well under good conditions. Definitely will take time and practice.

chanda95 · May 30, 2014

Designer said:
Now:

When you think he is ready to stay put in one place without the wall, pose him away from the wall. The light in #3 is probably where you want to be, the others being either needing more light or just too much light.

Thank you for pointing out which one is close to the ideal in terms of lighting. That helps a great deal! I think next time I photograph him it will be in his element doing something he likes...think the pictures will turn out better if I just do it that way.

sm4him · May 30, 2014

Well, on the other hand: Since your title is "Gonna have to buy me a baby doll," it leads me to believe that all you were going for here was practice on some fundamentals. In that case, it doesn't really MATTER whether he has the smile of an angel or his finger up his nose, does it?
I mean, sure, if you get a great shot while you're at it, that's certainly a plus--but if a baby doll would serve just as well, it makes me think this is more about practicing certain aspects.

So, what were your actual GOALS here? Are you working on lighting; if so, what specifically are you trying to achieve?
Working on a good DOF for portrait work? Nailing focus? All of those things can be achieved whether your "model" wants to smile or not.

chanda95 · May 30, 2014

sm4him said:
So, what were your actual GOALS here? Are you working on lighting; if so, what specifically are you trying to achieve?
Working on a good DOF for portrait work? Nailing focus? All of those things can be achieved whether your "model" wants to smile or not.

My goal at the moment is to work on getting a handle of lighting..so no it doesn't matter what he looks like really..getting the basics down and learning to properly work my camera comes first..the pretty shots will come after I have figured out what I am doing and how to do it properly.

I just thought it was a little funny some of the shots he gave me.

It's also a good reference for me to come back to down the road to see how far I "hopefully" have come at that time.

paigew · May 30, 2014

How did you shoot these? On Auto mode? The reason I ask is that they all look very different wb/exposure wise.

Never forget the power of bribing your kids

chanda95 · May 30, 2014

paigew said:
How did you shoot these? On Auto mode? The reason I ask is that they all look very different wb/exposure wise.

Never forget the power of bribing your kids

No - I was fiddling around with the white balance just to see what sort of results I would get so yes, exposure wise they are all different because of that. I was also in different positions in relation to the sun. I wanted to see how that played in with everything I was doing as well. Testing out everything and seeing what works and doesn't work at this point.