Yesterday I posted to my face book page a very serene photo of my little guy, Gerad, hugging our dog Frida….the comments have been made over the years that my children are so great for me in front of the camera.Sometimes yes, sometimes no….I do agree that it is an advantage to know your subjects really well,some days,though, it works against me.
I guess the point I want to make is, quite honestly a photo session with a child can be sometimes unpredictable.
I have learnt over the years that it is important to weave my way between having fun and catching crazy kid like action shots(which really helps when getting to know a child and getting them to relax and be themselves) and finding the calm, in between moments.
This little photo session with Gerad happened after a conversation something like this:
ME:”Hey Gerad, I haven’t taken any photos of you in a while, mostly of your sister”
GERAD: “That’s ok mum, you have plenty already”
ME: “but they were a while ago, you have grown up even more now”
GERAD : “Well, take one right now with your phone”
ME (gulp) : “why don’t we head down to the beach and have a fun action shoot?”
GERAD(pause, thinking) : “OK so long as I can jump off stuff!”
ME : “for sure,we might need to take a break for some shots with Frida…”
GERAD: “OK, let’s go!”
So we threw our dog into the mix (which can really escalate the action and in turn make it much more fun and challenging at the same time!)
Take away from this story?…let the kids have fun and they nearly always cooperate for the shots you want to get! (nearly always)
Here is what we ended up with….
For full screen view go HERE to the vimeo link:
A Boy and His Dog
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