Laughter

Once her mom started ticking, the serious face went away and sweet little Amryn gave us huge smiles and laughter, complete with drool.

Tips for photographing your kids

I spoke at my local MOPS group a couple weeks ago. MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) is a great organization for moms with young kids ages newborn thru kindergarten. I've been involved for five years and have loved getting to know other moms in the same unique stage of life as I am. It's and encouraging place, they're positive and helpful and there's childcare which is a huge bonus...well, it's a must. So I got to share some photo tips with the MOPS moms. Below are a few tips for taking better photos of your kiddos.

1. Timing

• Time your photo shoot around your kids best moods:
• Make sure they’re well fed, well rested and at a time of day that they’re not usually grumpy.
• Be quick, shoot quick, - press the shutter button half way down to focus before you click so the camera doesn’t take as long to capture the expression.

2. Location

• Take them to a place they can have fun and enjoy while you’re photographing them – Park, Bridge, Beach

3

. Keep it Natural

• Lighting – use natural daylight, on camera flashes are too harsh

note: if your photos are blurry, then you need more light or the camera is focusing on the background instead of on faces, so pay attention to where the focal point is.

• Avoid direct sunlight – shoot in the shade or on a cloudy day or inside next to a window

• Work at getting a natural smile
• Start our by playing and interacting first, before taking any pictures. Set the mood of the photo shoot.
• Make it a game- play peek-a-boo, red light green light, have them say funny, silly words like “bubble gum” or “cheeseburger” instead of “cheese”.
• Ask questions about what things they are excited about.
• Have a funny face contest or play Simon Says
• Give them something to play with if they’re really young and have them show it to you then quick take the shot

4. Get down to their eye level

• This will help them interact with you and it’s a much more flattering angle

5. Focus on the eyes

-There is a lot of expression and personality in the eyes

6. Shoot them close up, fill them frame with their face

7. Be Creative

• Capture who they are in that moment - Don’t interrupt the moment for a picture, just capture what is there
• Instead of just trying for a cute smile, look for their fleeting expressions, things that they will soon grow out of,
• Show them in action. Take some shots when they don’t know you’re taking a picture or get all set up and them snap a quick one when they look up at you
• Shoot your kids interacting with each other, not just sitting there smiling
• Set up some fabric in the shade or next to a window to make a little studio.

8. Be Patient

Go at your kid’s pace and with their mood. Don’t force a smile when they’re grumpy. If they’re grumpy and you’re stressed, set down the camera and play with them for a couple minutes, then try again. If that doesn’t work; try the photo shoot later. We don’t want them having a bad experience and dreading the next time you try to take their picture.

9. Take a ton of pictures

-For action shots- take a bunch in succession

-Take a bunch of different angles, poses, keep them moving, you keep moving

10. Post Processing

• 
  
• Use the photo editing tools that are available to you on your computer or from where you order your photos from- cropping, black and white and lots, lots more
• Photoshop Elements ($70), iphoto, Lightroom ($170) use these for creating more contrast, brightening eyes, adding more color, making black & whites

and finally...

Finish on a good note

Let them take a picture while you hold the camera then show it to them of the LCD. Let them remember having fun during their photo shoot so they look forward to it the next time.

Headshots for Lucas

I get to photograph this cutie a lot. He is such a good-natured baby, almost always smiling...except for the first time we tried this. Of course, as soon as we finished his very serious photo shoot, he started cracking up at his cousin. Almost all of those first ones had baby posing "Blue Steal".

We found a great location for this outdoor photo shoot. There were so many great spots to use for backdrops and little Lucas was all smiles and his mommy tossed him in the air. He ate a few leaves which made for some good facial expressions too.

New Backdrop

Here is a look at my new backdrop and the cuties who came by and try it out. I'm so happy with how bright and clean these images look, perfect for the summer.

Isabella's blue eyes are gorgeous!

Sean had some fun hanging out in the tractor. Chillin.

Sycamore Grove [Bay Area Family Photographer]

Summer is here! The warm weather is perfect for putting on the pretty sun dresses and looking cute for a photo shoot.
I got to photograph the sweetest family last weekend. These beautiful girls we so much fun to work with.

Why Choose Custom Photography
www.beckyhigh.com

Custom photography is more of a luxury than your entry level cookie cutter chain experience. Custom photography truly is not for everyone, it requires a level of commitment, investment in time and money, forethought and planning on the part of the subject/client and requires a larger time commitment for the photographer as well.

Clients who enjoy taking a more active role in the creation of their families’ memories have the desire to have portrait art that is truly personalized. These more discerning clients have been known to budget and allot time for a custom photography session. Many clients opt for it to be a once a year special experience, some opt to have custom photography sessions done to record their child's stages in life. Having said this, it is clear that custom photography is not in everyone’s budget, it is something that most families save for to splurge on from time to time to memorialize their children as they really are (not posed and primped in the cookie cutter studio setting).

There is a great deal of time involved in creating high end custom photography sessions for a client. The luxury of great service, better choices and a supberb end product. The result of all this are heirloom quality images. The time invested at the session is only a small portion of time involved in this process.

Custom photography has been likened to purchasing a fine vehicle. To get to point B from A let's face it, even a bus ride would suffice. If you want to luxuriate in a finely appointed vehicle, customizing your own experience by listening to smooth jazz while sitting in a climate controlled setting adjusted purely for your comfort in a body hugging leather interior, perhaps that Lexus you so desire is your cup of tea. Custom photography is much the same cup of tea. It is the Lexus of the photography world. It is where the intangibles make the experience truly wonderful and the images themselves make the investment of money and time truly worthwhile.

Custom photography can be broken down into even more levels. There are on location, studio, mixed studio/on location, specialty location and destination type photographers. The beauty of custom photography is in the choices and in the luxury of thos options. The customized service level you are sure to experience will be amazing. The knowledge that your final images are the result of someone caring about those moments so much that they take extra time ensuring that the artwork you receive is good enough to stand by with their name on it. That level of quality and commitment is all but lost in the age of "mass produced," "mass marketed," corporate "everyone is a number". Custom photography is based on being unique to you. How great an experience would be, to be able to sit back and allow a photographer to do this highly custom work for images that you will most likely cherish for a lifetime?

Keep in mind more than anything that the Lexus will never appreciate in value the way your portraits will. The portrait art you become invested in from your custom photographer will no doubt increase in value and become more priceless as the years pass.

Borrowed with permission from Professional Child Photographer.

My First Meetup

Last night I attended a meetup organized by Gustavo Fernandez and sponsored by SmugMug. Our speaker was Roberto Valenzuela who is an amazing photographer and offered a ton of helpful information. He discussed how to "see" instead of just look at what you're about to photograph, the different element that will make a beautiful image such as geometric shapes, symmetry, reflections, patterns, balance, color elements and simplicity. Many of these were things I studied as an art major in college. Roberto thinks of the photograph as art and composes it rather than just clicking away and hoping for the best. There is so much thought that goes into setting up each shot, finessing the subject so they look their best and shooting them at the best angle using directional light.
I've got lots to think about and to practice.