Collage of Anne from her first day of life to her first birthday...
Short of buying a more expensive camera what can she do? Our member, Shutterart, suggested pre-focusing on an area before the child gets to that spot. That is certainly a good tactic. Pre-focus on an area where you will lure the youngster in a few moments. Maybe place a favorite toy there or something that will bring him into your picture frame.
Another piece of advice is to have great light. In the sample image that I’ve attached to this blog posting, I’ve used natural light. This collaged image shows my grand-daughter, Anne, in twenty different photos throughout her first year of life, from day one to her first birthday, only two weeks ago.
I concentrated on her facial expressions. Although they were shot in color, I changed them all into a sepia tint and cropped them in Photoshop. That provided a unity for the piece. Color can sometimes be distracting and the flesh tones will vary in color, from shot to shot, depending on that images’ unique lighting situation.
Many of these shots were made near a big bay window, that flooded her face with light. A flash will often flattened the image and, of course, will startle the child and alter the dynamics that you worked to establish. Behind Anne is a sofa sectional that we draped with a piece of black felt as a backdrop.
The felt backdrop acts as a way to separate her from her environment and eliminate distractions in the rest of the room. Keep the image area simple. Place the child with one special toy, but have plenty of other ones in reserve for a quick replacement.
Have someone help you. We have discovered that an assistant is really desirable. When I’m photographing Anne, my daughter is playing the role of assistant, keeping Anne from falling and otherwise getting into mischief. It takes one person to be the baby wrangler and one behind the camera.
Be sure to get down on the ground at eye level with the youngster. You don’t want to take your shots from above, unless it is a tiny baby that is positioned below you on a blanket.
Try to get the real, genuine moments and the common facial expressions that the little one has. Plan to spend about an hour and a lot of snapping to get a few good ones. It is such a pleasure to document your grandchildren. You can never take too many photos.
Recent images of Anne included her fledging attempts at walking. She is now walking like Herman Munster with a large diaper wad between the legs. It is so funny. As her balance improves we are hoping for more graceful movements. But for now, it is a riot.
Other recent images include her eating fistfuls of blueberries at a pick-your-own blueberry farm. It is OK that her face is smeared with blueberry parts and her hands are blue. It is real and so much a part of the moment.
We’ve also done bath time images with her favorite rubber duckie. Duck was her first word, and needed to be in the photographic diary. A head full of shampoo bubbles was fun, as was the shot of her in her hooded bathrobe, pointing at herself in the bathroom mirror, creating a double image.
My next project is to create a hardbound book of Anne’s first year of life to give to her for a keepsake. There are many companies that offer bookmaking services now and I certainly have enough photos to fill one. Don’t tell anyone but I have five albums full of Anne photos in just twelve short months. Can you tell she is the first grand-child? I’ve been a busy grandma-photographer.
Good luck to all as they spend time with their grandchildren and derive pleasure from capturing their true selves.
Please visit my web site at www.suebloom.com
posted by beadbabe
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