The world is full of parents and other family members who take thousands of photographs of their young family members every day. For many of these people the following will apply.
They know their photography is not what it could be. They want to take images that capture the real essence of their child but because for of a variety of reasons they are unable to capture on their camera what they visualise in their heart. Sometimes they capture a wonderful shot and wonder why they can't do this consistently. They become frustrated with themselves and they either educate themselves or eventually the camera goes into a drawer only to be taken out for family snaps and special events.
The ability to photograph children is a skill that I am very happy to say I do have. Did I always have that skill? No, I was as described above for a very long time. My camera stayed in the wardrobe in my bedroom, in its box. It wasn't until I started to educate myself did I turn myself into a photographer. It was a slow steady journey, one I am still on today. I hope I never reach the destination because I always want to improve my art. I believe with a little direction any parent with a camera can turn there photographs into something more. Its for this reason I started this blog with a series of educational posts. I want to share what I have learned and encourage people to take more photographs, better photographs and be as proud of their photographs as they are of their children.
Parents and other close family members are often in the best position to capture expressions of their child. They are totally relaxed in their presence, they know them, there is no defense mechanism on the part of the child. What you get is the real inner child.
Over the next few weeks I will be putting together a number of posts to help people produce more professional looking images of children. The high level list at the moment comprises of:
1. Planning your Shoot
2. Camera Position
3. Composition
4. Backgrounds
5. Exposure
6. Lighting
7. Capturing natural images
8. Basic Photoshop
Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
They know their photography is not what it could be. They want to take images that capture the real essence of their child but because for of a variety of reasons they are unable to capture on their camera what they visualise in their heart. Sometimes they capture a wonderful shot and wonder why they can't do this consistently. They become frustrated with themselves and they either educate themselves or eventually the camera goes into a drawer only to be taken out for family snaps and special events.
The ability to photograph children is a skill that I am very happy to say I do have. Did I always have that skill? No, I was as described above for a very long time. My camera stayed in the wardrobe in my bedroom, in its box. It wasn't until I started to educate myself did I turn myself into a photographer. It was a slow steady journey, one I am still on today. I hope I never reach the destination because I always want to improve my art. I believe with a little direction any parent with a camera can turn there photographs into something more. Its for this reason I started this blog with a series of educational posts. I want to share what I have learned and encourage people to take more photographs, better photographs and be as proud of their photographs as they are of their children.
Parents and other close family members are often in the best position to capture expressions of their child. They are totally relaxed in their presence, they know them, there is no defense mechanism on the part of the child. What you get is the real inner child.
Over the next few weeks I will be putting together a number of posts to help people produce more professional looking images of children. The high level list at the moment comprises of:
1. Planning your Shoot
2. Camera Position
3. Composition
4. Backgrounds
5. Exposure
6. Lighting
7. Capturing natural images
8. Basic Photoshop
Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
