Moms With Cameras

Recently, I photographed the first in a series of fairy-tale inspired Fine Art images that we’re doing in my studio. I posted a “teaser” image on our facebook page, and I received several e-mails that asked about how I got her eyes to look so incredibly sparkly and open.

The very most important thing I did is make sure there was lots of good, clean light hitting the mask of her face. (When I refer to the mask of someone’s face, I am referring to the brows, eyes, nose and mouth – the front-most parts, like where a mask would fit over the face.) We had brought studio lights to this spot, but nature actually did a wonderful job for us, so she is merely seated at the edge of a clearing with her chin tilted up.The quality of the light hitting her face was very soft (it was very late in the day) and I shot this at a fairly wide aperture (f/3.2) in order to have a nice, shallow depth of field, which allowed for her eyes to be a focal point in the image.

In post-processing, I dodged her irises and the whites of her eyes a bit, and added an extra layer of lashes! A tiny bit of sharpening was my final step in the work on this image!

Have a great day mommas!

Can you imagine facing a couple and saying something like, “I’m so sorry, but I’m missing about half of your wedding . . . “? How would you even begin to go about making that up to a pair of newlyweds? When I photographed weddings, having to utter those words was my single greatest fear, so I made 100% certain I would never, ever have to say them. How could I be so certain?

I had an extreme backup plan.

When I photographed weddings, I brought an assistant along with me who’s sole job was to load the cards I handed to her on our laptop, and then burn three separate backup discs from each card. By loading them on the computer, we were able to be sure that there were no problems with the files within minutes after they were shot. While we never did experience anything like a corrupt card, had such an issue come up we would have been able to remedy the situation on the spot.

When we explained this process to our couples before they booked the wedding, it was frequently cited as a major deciding factor. Knowing that they would not ever risk me saying something like, “I’m so sorry but when I got home I realized the card was corrupt,” made a big impact on my potential clients, and rarely did I meet with a couple who did not choose to book Emily Potts Photography for their wedding.

If I were photographing weddings today, here is what my backup plan would look like:

• I would cover the wedding using small-ish cards. I know many photographers go in with 32G cards so they don’t have to hassle with changing them out too often, but I want to know that if I do have an issue, it affects 100 images . . . not 500.
• After every major event (getting ready, formals before the ceremony, the ceremony, formals after the ceremony, first dance & parent-child dances, cake cutting & toasting) I would take the card to my assistant.
• My assistant loads the card onto my laptop and checks to make sure everything looks good, and stores the used card in a separate case. (Cards are NEVER formatted at the wedding!)
• My assistant would burn two discs and load the images to a second external drive.
• My assistant takes home one set of the discs, which will be transferred to a safe deposit box that Monday.
• I start the process of uploading the files to cloud storage as soon as I get home that evening.

If this seems a little nuts to some of you, I urge you to think again! This day marks the start of this couple’s family history, and they hired you and put all of their faith in you to help them remember the details of this day for the rest of their lives! Your product is the only one they will still put to use for years after their wedding date and yours is the only one likely to be passed down for generations. Considering that responsibility, I feel it is of utmost importance that photographers take every precaution when handling images from a wedding.

Have a great day everyone!

Mommas, have you subscribed to our FREE e-newsletter? You’ll receive exclusive bonus content delivered right to your inbox!

I’m talking about SMILES, mommas! (For those of you who thought otherwise . . . get your mind out of the gutter!)

When I photograph children, one of the most important things I do for my clients is elicit real smiles. The way I see it, one of the big-box companies will take fake-smile school photos – they’ll have no shortage of those for years to come! A family commissioning me for a session is hiring me to create images of their children in full-on joyful mode. Sometimes this takes a bit of work!

Sometimes children are just serious . . .  or nervous. I recently photographed a kiddo who plastered on a fake smile and then held out on all of my antics like a member of the English Queen’s Guard. So much so, that his mother called out, “I swear we didn’t threaten him before this!!” I persevered and several minutes into shooting my assistant and I discovered which silly act in our arsenal o’ ridiculousness would crack that one. A real smile ensued and I knew the image would make that momma’s heart melt.

Fake-smile Syndrome seems to affect children the most severely between ages three to nine, but I’ve seen it plastered across both younger and older faces. (Sometimes parents even need a little help!) Here are three tactics I employ that definitely help ensure I’ll leave with natural, happy expressions!

1. In the consultation, I chat with the parents about how to talk to their children before and during the session. I let them know to keep the tone light and the stress off. You can bust out your funniest moves, but if Mom’s behind you tersely saying, “Don’t do that! Hold still and look at Emily!,” I’m never going to get a chance at photographing a happy child. Instruct parents to keep the pressure off and let your child enjoy the fun we’ll have together.

2. Get ‘em talking. Many times children freeze up because you’re standing there pointing a lens at their face, so they do their best to please you and plaster on the fake grin. Take time to move the camera away from your face and chat with them a bit. Things like, “So Dalton, how many girlfriends do you have?” or “In your house, besides Dad . . . who has the smelliest feet? I’ve heard rumors that it’s you! Is that true?” I’ve even asked my littlest subjects, “So who is your best friend? What is she like . . . is she nice? What do you guys like to do together?” Talking about their pal helps direct attention away from themselves . . . and gets them talking about someone they love.

3. Act like a fool. Children can’t help but giggle when you act like you’ve lost all rational control. Saying ridiculous things like, “Let’s see, your mom told me you’re . . . 42 years old, right?” or emulating various bodily functions typically makes even the most serious child lose it. Added bonus? This often works for dads, too!

When working with children, take your time and go the extra mile for those real smiles. I promise it will be worth it!

(fake)

(real . . . see the difference?)

{Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter!}