Get In The Way

Most of the time I try to keep out of people's way when I'm shooting candids. But with babies, it's a different ballgame. In these shots, including the one on the right, I stood behind my brother and used his shoulder as a quasi-tripod to shoot our nephew while my brother changed his diaper. Talk about intrusive! If only I had a photo of it! By perching myself on my brother I was able to: 1. Shoot from a stable platform. 2. Shoot from a perspective that nearly mimicked what my brother was seeing. 3. Focus only on shooting Jakey without having too much of my brother in the shot. This technique isn't something I'd employ all the time, but with babies, they don't know what's going on anyway, so as long as the other adult is fine with you perched on their shoulder, you're golden.

A Frivolous Post

This post isn't educational nor even that interesting, but when I scanned through my Flickr account, I encountered this photo, and I just had to post it. This is a shot of my nephew's double chin, which I will use against him if he ever acts up as a teenager! :-)

Oh So Close!

In this ongoing saga of my night shoot with Brian (which is taking far too long!), I want to focus on how one problem can mess up a shot. What I liked about the shot: 1. Brian's bored "I'm about to go home" expression. 2. The directional lighting at camera left provided by a hot shoe flash shot through an umbrella. 3. The overall subdued earthy tones. 4. The out-of-focus twinkling lights behind his head. What I didn't like: 1. The out-of-focus twinkling lights behind his head. How can I both like and dislike the same thing? Look at how I composed the shot. The lights look like they're sprouting from his head. It really bothers me. Once again, this is a reminder of how important it is to be mindful of your composition.