Lesson Info
1. Class Introduction
Lessons
Class Introduction
02:42 2Overcoming Common Challenges Of Photographing Children
05:12 3Recognizing Specific Challenges Quickly To Get The Best Out of All Subjects
14:55 4Warming Up Your Subject
06:22 5Drawing Out The Shy Child
11:31 6Working With The "Feels Everything More" Child
05:30 7Photographing The One Who Doesn't Want To Be There
03:40 8Working With Sibling Groups
03:12In-Studio Shoot: Rapid Child Portraits
31:23 10Gear And Accessory Considerations
14:28 11Portrait Lenses
36:41 12Deconstructing A Shoot In Process
14:53 13Simple, Effective Lighting Techniques For Authentic Portraits
21:59 14Live Shoot: Photographing Siblings
52:49 15Review Of Earlier Shoot Images
02:13 16Post-Processing With On1
17:56 17Real Time Edit From Live Shoot
25:10 18Presenting Your Images
08:59 19Portrait Critiques
19:20 206 Tips To Capture Children's Portraits
15:31Lesson Info
Class Introduction
We're gonna talk today about kids, photographing kids. When we talk about authentic portraiture, what are we talking about? I love working with children. It's just easier. It's one of the reasons really that I photograph children because you don't have to break through that wall of self-consciousness. However, you often do have to break through the walls of however they're feeling when they walk in. And we're gonna be discussing that in some detail. But in general, when I'm working with children, one of the things I'm thinking about is that they are insanely unique. They are a marvel. And they really are. Anybody here ever love a child? Yep. I have birthed a child. And I've brought home a child from another continent. And I've brought home a child from another continent. And in every one of those cases, those are the most dramatic moments of my life. The idea that I'm going to connect with this human forever. Like we are bonded together and I will never not love them. And I look at the...
m and to me, they are a marvel. Just the way they learn and the way they speak. And the way they surprise you. And I'm amazed by my children. Even though they also drive me crazy. But that feeling I have, I also recognize that my clients when they're bringing their little children to me, that's their little marvel. And that means everything to them. And I need to go in with the mentality of respecting that, appreciating that, and make sure I showcase that. I don't really ever, I'm trying to think if I've ever walked into a photo shoot and thought, "Right, get the job done." I walk into a photo shoot and I think, "Okay, how are they feeling? "How are they coming across? "What do I need to think about in terms of "how I frame the shot, compose it? "Go ahead and bring out some expression?" The course is called "authentic portraits," and for me, when I drill that down even further, it means real expression. And so that expression, no matter how I go about getting it, it's gonna have a massive impact for me. That's one of the things I don't walk away until I've got that. And so let's start talking about these great, dramatic love stories of the clients that I'm working with. When a child comes in and I'm finding right away, they don't wanna be there. The client wants to be there. The client wants the shots. But what I'm facing is a child is who doesn't wanna be there. What do I do? Do I just say, "Ah, this is gonna suck," ? "This is gonna be really hard. "I wish this hadn't happened." No. I'm gonna sit there and step back and think, "Okay, I have a bit of a methodology here." I've come up against this time and time again. And I'm going to use the practices that I know work. Simply by what I'm seeing in front of me. What the situation is that's presenting itself.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
JennMercille
Tamara Lackey brings amazing energy to her teaching and shooting style. She shared a ton of tips and tricks for capturing the true character and personality of each child in both individual and group portraits. I have always found it to be particularly difficult to capture portraits of multiple children that are composed to be both visually interesting and true to their unique story. I learned so much about directing and communicating effectively with child subjects, and how to use my gear and other tools to streamline the process and keep it all fun for the family. No matter how much you think you know about photographing children, this class is an asset that you will not regret! Thank you Tamara Lackey!
Heidi Mikulecky
I love Tamara's tips for working with common personality types found in children. I also love that class allows you to be "fly on the wall" during her photo shoots. It's so helpful for me to see how other photographers engage their subjects (especially children). Tamara brings a ton of energy, excitement and playfulness to her shoots. It opened my eyes to how fun (and how exhausting) a photo shoot can be when you give it your all. Great class!
Sara NAomi
This was an amazing class. Photoshop has been a huge learning curve for me during the past year and it was so helpful to see the quick and easy way you used levels to bring down brightness/hotspots. I will definitely be using it to improve the "ear" on the portrait that you critiqued. Thank you soooooooooo very much Tamara and CL for providing such great content!