family portraits

Monday, December 10, 2007

It's always a challenge to get any group of people all looking good, smiles on, facing the camera, etc. at the same moment. ( This guy is exceptionally good at it.)

I still have a lot to learn about the trick to getting children to look when you want them to. Even the best-behaved children can't be commanded to smile for the picture and expected to perform. That's why I've always preferred candid shots, where the smiles and poses are natural, though the photo itself may not be technically perfect. Good portraits are hard work!

I had a great Saturday recently, spending time with two of my favorite young families, shooting hundreds of photos and sharing lots of laughs over the little ones. Some of my favorites are below:

This was at the end of the shoot, when she had pulled apart a flower, starting with one petal at a time, then fistfuls of petals, until the flower parts were scattered all over the kitchen floor. She then proceeded to giggle and roll around and just be a little girl. What I thought of as I looked at these pics afterwards is how safe this little girl feels. She knows she's loved and will be protected and taken care of and she has no worries. She doesn't even know worries are possible yet. There is such joy in knowing we are safe.


joy in motion


how it all started :-)


Enough of this "cheeeese" nonsense. I'd rather hang out on the photographer's lap.



On to another family. The best looks we got out of their toddler were when her mom & dad kept asking her what different animals say. She totally focused, and grinned after each pronouncement and kicked her little toes. Aren't they just lovely? I love the coordinated brown & pink outfits. She even provided their own backdrop cloth that worked beautifully with the color scheme. How could I not get good pics here?



another example of one+one=three (or four or more!)



my hands-down favorite shot of the day. and it was largely accidental. As well as being the very last one I took.


12 comments:

Janice said...

I have so many little faces that you could just practice all day on if you'd like to. All in the name of perfecting your art. Is that possible? Or does art "grow" rather than "perfect"? So many questions!!

I love the pictures of those little bambinos! So beautiful! And I agree with you, that last one is just gorgeous!

Victoria said...

You do wonderful work - kids are naturals, aren't they? BTW - by any chance, is that Ken H. in the first set? I just recently found out he got MARRIED, for goodness sake - didn't even know about a little girl! If it is, tell him I said "hi"

Dave said...

Yeah, that picture wasn't exactly "G" rated was it!

But maybe if you asked really nice somebody might do your Christmas pictures next year so you don't have to fuss with the 7 horsemen of the apocalypse like last time.

Or maybe if we asked for pictures of SNOW, we might see a few of those too :)

jen said...

janice…I'd love to do a j-family portrait sometime!!

victoria…good eye! that's exactly who it is. I'll tell him you said hi

dave…the snow is on its way :)

Anonymous said...

Victoria, It's nice to hear from you. Unfortunately I don't know who you are. Can you fill in the blanks?

Ken

Dave said...

Ken,

That's Vicki McC......(not sure if she would mind putting her full last name up or not).

Eric McC's wife. Lyle Beabout's brother....

She graduated from NCA with me in 91, and attended FBBC.

Dave said...

Gary Sauer should remember all of us clowns.

jen said...

Never would have guessed that my blog would turn into an NCA reunion.

Where "N" is for knowledge, "C" is for quality, and "A" is for excellence. I heard this directly from an alumnus. or two.

Dave said...

OUCH!

Hookt on Fonix Sher Wirkt fer Mee!

Victoria said...

Thanks, Dave, for filling in my entire life's history. Thanks,Ken, for reminding me how insignificant I really must be! :)

jen said...

so, after all that conversation, I went to an NCA basketball game last night…"we" won in a beautiful comeback in the last 6 minutes of the game!

go knights :)

Anonymous said...

My, My. I only had a simple name of Victoria to go on. I have known many Victorias... It is not like I saw a picture of you. Thanks Dave, for filling it in. I remember all of you.

Vicki, its nice to hear from you. I got married 3 years ago and have one little girl and another little girl on the way. I saw a bit of your blog recently and it is cool to see your beautiful family.

God Bless.