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Dads and Daughter Family Shoot in Field

All right so on this shoot they had they were spent scheduled to come a little earlier we had just wrapped up the lake that was shot for you where we were getting all splashed around I was soaking stopping wet so if you wonder why I'm meeting them looking incredibly to shovel that would be why on day we're late because he's an emergency vet and they had to have an emergency animal saving situation so it was a really good thing I make sure I should clarify that interesting and they were light all right we are starting a really fun family shoot I happened to accidentally get a little wet in the lake but we're going to move on and pretend we don't see it on me andi liked introduce everybody row in I'm sorry what is your name? Rohit I'm tamara don't say hi to the camera tamara got kevin nice to meet you guys all right? So I'm thinking that it looks so lovely over there with the chair we do we pal everybody on what do you say yeah you're saying well you'll be there like we'll throw you out ...

of the end is that sound good not throw you but like gently place you does that sound better? Yeah, I agree all right, come on let's go let's jump this way come here! Um that looks really pretty actually you know what I'd love to move the chair into that strip of light and use it how how bright is this? Oh yeah let's put the chair here facing the light that's it will dio you're gonna do it wow, you are far stronger than you look. All right? You're doing great. Okay, here. Yeah that's the light spot hot and facing the light. All right, and then this is eight. Thirty. This is last year we did I want to say is renee thirty? I'm sure we have a time see at eight. Thirty p m we have we're down to a sliver of light they obviously they adjusted the exposure of this videos you could better see it it's darker than you think. S o I am using the flash we're finding that last drop of light that's coming through and the big thing I am thinking here is I know I have to add light I want to be really with the family because they came late. We didn't get a chance to be just and every one of them we actually jumped right in. But we're now on an extraordinary narrow scope of time because it's going to be really dark and to be able to light this kind of scene when it's this dark I have to have more with me and I don't because we hadn't planned to go this much later s o I have to work with what I have what I'm caring about the most here though is I'm going to find the sliver of light we're going to shoot in a way that's clean and open I know that I'm going to work to process them in a way that I can deliver if something I'm really happy with but I'm gonna keep my focus where it is, which is to really showcase them as a family what I see immediately when they even walked up and with their little girl is just like this abounding sweetness and love and this little girl you could tell when you're doing the shoot she just is like I am loved you can just you feel it on dh that's what I want to show case and it's not hard to do with them, but that's where I'm gonna put all my time and attention and focus but that's the job I never had not come here will you help with the we're going to use the video light for this? Perfect and then just a couple of posing kind of chips sitting up a little started you can on dure lean forward slightly at the ways because you guys were going kind of a little of a slope and then you now and down a little bit yeah, and then we're going to make trying to root it closer you're not on line yet you come all right? And so we're going to try this here yes beautiful on dh then I'm sure I think we might have a little bit of a shadow with roe in but we're worked that out. Okay you ready if you here just to give this context if you hear me racing it's that dropping light we've just got to go come back from a distance you know, I'm so sorry I need to get the twenty four, seventy real quick grab this all right? So your job you see that see how nice and calm they look right now you're going to disrupt that you're gonna read like children do you're gonna run up and jump on there I'm you can't see past the life let me try this again going ok ready you're gonna run up and you're gonna climb up in the second she climbs up your driver yeah ok switch was here. Wow, that is a running start. Are you guys prepared? Thank you. Ok, are you ok? And then you're gonna go just try to think about the angle of the sun and mimicking it? Yeah, we're going right here because the big thing we do is in my shadow ok? And then so I'm going to shoot a lower angle because right here, as you can see I am the shadow. Um, yeah, you know what? I think we're just going to use a flash. Okay, so there was we're holding the video light, which if I was just posing the two of them, no problem, beautiful if I'm photographing the two of them and a child that would, by any chance remain still beautiful, weaken, sculpt, some borders light, there was no way we were going to be still for a microsecond, so all we were going to have to do was reset and reset and reset the light, and we would have blown any chance of getting a natural moment. And I want you to be really hearing that because this is one of the key differences between photographing adults and kids. We can make that lighting work if we've got a still calm subject that we've got a few together, but when it's that dark, when it's dropped that much and we're trying to hold the light and any ounce of movement creates a shadow line behind us and around us, we've got to go, and we've got to move on to the next option. That makes sense, right? Let me just see that that looks good, and then you could clear the towels on that bench, all right? We're going for lighting, okay? So really when you raise up you're gonna flip so when you land however she lands you're gonna flipper and you're gonna go like this e and then your thiss around her tight like that that's it okay it's gonna be a love attack that's good and we're just going to ignore the millions of ducks behind you, okay? Ah that was great let's do it again and obviously we're not shooting yet because we have to clear the whole background but we're practicing we're getting your set up we're getting her used to what she has to dio that's awesome yeah, the goal here is good sleep tonight okay okay so when when you when you get her you know flipper towards me and you know lean in and screeching ok here we go this is the one right come on come on let's go get a job very good you want to get you to again one more time alright that's really good I love that oh that's good you lean in a bit more next time that's it perfect okay wears that gathering her straight okay what are you doing? All right, dad's combat in oh that's so good oh, my goodness are you kidding me out with adorable this time you're gonna show you a little bit of how that's looking after I'm delivering it um but hug I love that energy um this is this is how I would take that and deliver it what we just showed you you see that I would put a zapruder finish I would do kind of the color the silliness I would dio this in a black and white to mitigate the fact oh this is a really good point this does not work that her sleeve is covering his face but you make it a black and white you go and really tight and it just looks like candid craziness and it works as a color you're like I that looks like a really rough stephen run over face his base um ok it was the other one is um yeah that was the earlier when she jumped in the arms before I had a reset you could see how that's going cropping in and I'd go tighter to get rid of that crap that was still being set brown in and you're just going like this okay and then they're going to grab you and I love this thing you did return it will show you how to get ok ready why you gotta stand right here and you're just gonna jump up almost it's really high so get back to what are you doing ah ah that was a good one all right let's try a slower ones time shall we all right when you when you go back like this how that instead of that you're going to stand in the middle so you two are in a speech on the edge okay, so I wish we could have a hair part but so two things I'm noticing when I had those were getting the emotion I want but we're not getting the look I want and and again that's what I'm going for I want the emotion it's there but her angle's too far back she's arching her back in her tummy is in the shot her hair because it's held back is kind of getting a little bit a strange look so none of that is working in terms of the shot I want to get but I started with what I care about the most is the emotion and I'm not gonna do anything to disrupt that I'm just going to take the shot one that I would deliver eso in this case we pulled the hair down and this is the same little girl that that in the other session we talked about how when we're throwing in the air the hair really works look so free and fun and she is so free and moving and stuff it just seems like it works better with the hair down so we did that on dh then I'm gonna just scrapped here and then we just I give him directions to move up on dh she jumps up and down um and, uh, and then cut because we went to the during one's earlier. Ok, so now we're at the last possible sliver of light left on the planet, and we're going to just walk to it because it's evening backlit in it, and then whose shoulders wants to support roe in which one who's gonna do it, who's that for shouldering, you're the shouldering? All right, you're going to go here. Iraq question when I'm setting up a pose is the same question I asked when I'm with a family where there's, a mom and a dad where there's, a mom and mom there's a dad in a dad, I'm going to say whose shoulders who's back on the back. A lot of times, people will just go right towards dad and put the kid on dad's shoulders, but the kid actually enjoys it more on mom shoulders or mom's back or something like that. S o depending on the family configuration, regardless of what the parents that is, I'm always going to say who wants this job? And sometimes the cable say you first and you're next great, we'll mix it up, but I'm not going to make an assumption about which way to go there if there is a choice in this fund, oftentimes if we have a bigger kid and a smaller mom and the kid wants mom I'll do it for the shot and for the satisfaction of it and then will shift over so that the proportions work right here guy go high oh, that is high that is high right there let's try the gold reflector let's see if we can do it and then let's go back right here so it's nice and back with like right there all right you're in all right, you're in super close because we have this like tight sliver of light and then let's try we're going to grab this all right, look at their faces well hope will turn to it I'm gonna build a man and you I want my way we would like a triangle wait how really six cherry we I like they are without that about from the light booth okay and then let me take this I don't even never have been flashing light I don't need any more because you've got that golden reflector and we've got that gorgeous backlight and I'm gonna be back here and I'm going to make it good. So this is with the reflector slipping a hair we've lost the entire shot they look great it's adorable that and it's not daniel's thought we're working with a sliver it falls a sliver it doesn't work, we get it back in place and it's gorgeous which we get but you've got to now be very, very precise and we're going we're talking about a lighting situation that is not optimal but how do you still make it work and make something beautiful out of it kick up a little bit I felt and drop my shutter speed just in case you're wondering hey she's completely glazed over she literally saying talk to the hand I'm not interested all right, so exactly is yours reflected the drop in a little bit all right good. So good. All right, don't sweat it a marine you need a lot of breathing ok, wait wait look like gen there you go you do that there you go that way no, you need him to bring the hand on the way because you don't like that wait don't want that that is just not the shot, right roland ready way good good. We're going all right about that a little bit look at but rohan's. All right, so let me show you did you see the series of five and this should be an encouraging reminder of this of those well, I have it here and you just point dropped it two of those series of five there is one where the reflectors exactly where we want it and it's this one it's actually one of these online back up or there we go um this one we popped up for a second this is brightened a little bit too afterwards but can you see how when we get it there it's perfect when we drop it it's terrible when we get it there it's perfect we drop it is terrible we get it there it's perfect we drop it it's terrible you guys see him saying and so this should be encouraging because in this exact moment where we've got we've got I've got a second a second a second a second and I've got six or seven or eight seconds that do not work any questions about that? I think tomorrow I think legis answers a question that had come through a number of times but does a portrait work without the catch light? Um it of course you can make a portrait. Yes, you could make a portrait work without catch like my desire for a portrait to really be in fact impactful includes cash right? But I'm not worried necessary that we lost the catch sight we lost the entire modeling in the face yeah, we have a very drab dark underexposed shot that looks very flat to me what I want is that beautiful golden light back there coming through I want this interaction and this exchange I want that that sliver of catch light that I'm going to get for the moment I get it this is worth bungling with this and that to make it all happen if we had said let's do it evening shoot let's start our shooting eight thirty at night in a park which I would never dio for a family with a toddler right? If I had a couple I'm going out and evening shoot that gorgeous we could like that they would stay that's not going to happen here I have a toddler whose racing off and choking people so and she's beautiful and so sweet and full of love and I need to be able to show their togetherness and the way they belong to each other and I look at this image and that is what I see and make that something that you can see a little better set up there um let's do this uh oh, sorry when it's on display moated I don't have the same options for showcasing it that I normally do, but you guys can see that. Okay, right? What I care about here is showing this together we still have a lovely triangle composition because we adjusted a little bit we get the sliver of light we want, but I would hope it be encouraging to realize that in those in the worst case scenarios, you don't have to work a little bit but you'll get it if we had said we're going to do a shoot at eight p m we're going to go out to a park, it's. Going really dark. I would have brought the strobes. The portable strobes set them up, and we have been fine. You know, we would have had to life, sit there and work out the obvious light, making sure it's hitting them okay and all that sort of thing. But with a toddler, I'd much rather shoot much earlier, anyway, because it's, not to the optimal time for them to be awake and responsive anyway.