So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to lower these lights down to power six, okay? We'll bring in the chair and my two stools. So these were at 10, overpowering this. Now they are at six, under powering that. Okay? This light is at eight, okay? Perfect. Let's go ahead and move that slightly this way. Beautiful, I love having all these assistants. Go ahead and bring it forward a little bit, perfect. Beautiful. And I'll just kind of put it like that, perfect. Okay, and then I need those two other, the stool and the box. Yeah, actually I do like that. Let's bring the two stools. So, yeah, that will work perfect. So that one goes on this side, over here. We might have to move this down just a touch, and bring that over here, beautiful, and then this can go right there. Okay. Simple pieces of furniture. Now we have to watch out because that chair, anybody who leans in it is gonna be like this and it's gonna be shooting up their face. So they have to sit on the edge. So what we're gonna do...

, is we're gonna have Harrison, Dad, come in. Dad, you get to sit on the edge looking kind of cool. Thank you very much for holding my camera, Casey. Okay, and then we are going to put Mommy, Yeah, okay. Go ahead and scoot your booty just a little bit further back. Beautiful, he is a tall man so I can get away with this. Bring your left foot out. Other left, right. That's what I meant. I'll never get it right. Perfect, okay. And then let's see. We're gonna put Mommy right over here, nice and close to Daddy. Sit facing legs that way, and you get to love on Daddy. I want all your weight on this seat's bone. Okay? Because look what happens. Let me get the apple box to help demonstrate this. Where's the apple box? What happened to the apple box? Oh, apple box! They always put everything away here. They're so neat and clean. But what you'll notice is, and I'll do this for Alex over here so you can see, if I sit on a stool with my weight caught in the middle or on the back seat's bone, look how big this looks. Woohoo gained 10 pounds. But the minute I do this, woo shrinky shrinky, right? So now all of a sudden I just dropped like 10, 20 pounds off my client. So just by having, she's like, "Okay, I'll do that from now on." It's a really valuable thing to see when you're working with a client. So just by simply shifting her weight, I have dropped 10 pounds off of her, okay? So now what I want Mr. Rex, Mr. Buddy Rex, you get to sit over here on the arm of the stool, of the chair. Sit right here, Bud. Let's go, like that. Think you can do that? You darling, get the big stool. What I want you to do, can you straddle it like this? Can you do that? I think you can. Hop on up there, kiddo. Do you need some help? Big, tall. Okay, nice and close so your body is like right touching that. Can you do that? There you go. Can you put your foot up on the stool? Is that hard? Let's do this leg, whoa, up and over. Like that, right on your brother. I give you permission to kick him. Okay, just gently, just gently because we don't want to hurt him, do we? Right? Okay, let's pull your dress down, and then let's put this foot up there like that. This foot on there like that. Do you see what I'm doing? I'm kind of cross referencing. Mama, I want you to put your left food down. Let it dangle. Perfect, just like that. Okay. Again, same thing. Two parts, changing the look. Okay? Now, Belinda, I'm gonna have you twist Riley a little bit so that she's kind of facing me. There we go, perfect just like, Good job. She did it on her own, look, what a rockstar. I love that. Okay, I know, I'm way back here. I'm sorry, Alex, I'm probably driving you crazy. My microphone is falling off my body here. I got it, we're good. Beautiful, okay. Adjust my light, make sure I like it. Yep, looking good. See how the background is now all of a sudden gray? Okay? Even though it's a white background. So by simply changing the light structure, I'm shooting with an 85 millimeter lens. Awesome. Momma, nose this way, chin forward and down slightly. Beautiful. Hey Rex, is your birthday December 28th? No? When is your birthday? April 6th, does that make you a big six or a little six? And you don't know what that means, huh? Beautiful, I love it. Good job, buddy. Okay, so I'm having to kind of squeak back here considerably because I'm shooting with an 85 millimeter lens in a short space, okay? But I'm still managing to fit the entire subject in, but this is a great way to kind of create that line. I put Mom behind Dad to help, of course, drop, make Mom look good, drop weight off mom, hide her with Dad a little bit. I do that constantly, and then just like of making that seesaw, making that up and down motion with the heads, okay? And the sizes of the people. So I'm using a Nikon d750, 85 millimeter lens. I'm shooting F7.1. We have a slight L shape, do you see it? It's very slight. Just a slight curve so the, and granted, the light is closer to Mama, so I'm getting that little bit of a hot spot over on her, but it's still lit enough, and Rex wasn't quite looking in that one, but I'm still getting it so that it's fairly evenly lit between Riley and Melissa. Make sense? I could change that and make it even better by pulling this light out slightly and down, as long as I don't get flat light. You don't want it to be straight on top of them, and by simply keeping it overhead, you're creating that beautiful nose shadow below for more of a butterfly north lighting effect. Make sense? So it doesn't look flat. Hence the reason that rail system I have in my studio, all my light is overhead, okay? Now you can put things on the side and then bring it out, but you're risking getting flat, so be careful that your light doesn't get too flat. Okay? Let's take Mom and Dad out, and I'm going to leave the stools and shoot the kids. So Rex, I want you to stay where you are. Miss Riley, you get to get in the stool with him, in the chair with him. Sound good? Yeah, you stay put because you look good there. I like it. Whoa, careful. Okay, cutie, I want you to stand up and sit on the back of the chair. Can you do it? Perfect, good job buddy. So let me help you out. What do I mean? Yep, you get to stand on the chair, stand on the furniture. Holy cow, you get to stand on the furniture. Here you go. Is this sturdy, yeah. There's some back here. Yeah, let's get, it's pretty sturdy, I think we're good, okay? Just don't move too much. Keep you in one spot, right? Scoot that way, scoot that way. Perfect, okay. You, dude, get to go back. Can you sit your booty in, there you go. Perfect, just like that. Beautiful. Careful, don't lose those feet. Okay, sit up nice and tall, Buddy, you're doing good. And then can you lean against your sister for me? Perfect. Because she's not, there I love it. Stay right there, buddy. You're doing great. Okay, this is a situation where the kid something cool and I love it, so I'm gonna shoot it. Okay? So again, I'm leaving, Hey! Yo, you guys see Harold? Hey Rex? Did you see what Harold did? You missed it. Okay, so tell me about your glasses, bubba. What happens if you take your glasses off? Does it get all wiggly? Hey Riley? Do you write notes to your boyfriend? Ohh. I gotcha didn't I? Is he cute? What's his name? Oh, she's getting shy on me. Hey Rex, do you know? What's his name? Oh, are you gonna rat out your sister? Uh oh! Huh? He's like asking permission, I love it. Two? Two what? Two boyfriends? Oh my goodness! That's not true! It's not true, huh? Okay. Perfect. Awesome, I love it. Okay, so, I chose to leave the stools in for just an interesting look. You could take them out if you want, but I think it kind of looks cool to have both stools. I'm kind of thinking I'm not really in love with the one on the right. This one is a little too complicated. So if I was going to pursue this further in the shoot, we don't have much time so I'm not going to, I would take that one out, just leave that one. But it just implies that they're hanging out, kind of doing their thing, and it leaves a lot of questions in your mind, "Well, what's the stool for?" It adds interest to the image. So keep in mind that things like that aren't harmful. Play around with those things, let yourself be creative and have some fun. I pulled out some knowledge out of my bag here and there. You heard me say that. Knowing more of that and memorizing it ahead of time with your session is really going to empower you in the session because you're going to get natural expressions. So you can see, the methodology is set up the session, I love it, where's my camera? Dang, where's my camera? Set up the session, and then let things kind of flow from there, and don't be afraid to have things change on you. Beautiful. See, it's so hard not to look at the thing, isn't it? It's so hard! Perfect. Okay? So you'll see these moments and want to capture them, the way the kids are just kind of being relaxed, and go with it. So if you see a moment go grab it. Sorry, I really should put my camera down, but, you know, good kids. You guys are awesome. You're coming back, right? So, Miss, I won't. We'll save that little tip for later, what I love about you. I'll tell you her secret to her amazing hair later. Okay? Shh, let's not tell it now. We'll tell it later, okay? Okay. Awesome. So, but you can see, I have all these little tricks and tips about them in my bag because of the pre-consultation. Okay? So, so critical to get to know the kids, and then address those things throughout the session so that you get a genuine expression. So like I said, the pattern is set it up, make the more formal pose, and then start attacking them with knowledge that you have to create genuine moments, okay?

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Julia Kelleher

Portrait Photographer, Julia Kelleher, M. Photog., Cr. CPP, specializes in newborn and family portraits out of her boutique, Bend OR, studio. She offers her clients a photographic style that is organic, textural and artistic, and specializes in creating heirloom albums

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topics covered in this class

Family & Lifestyle Business

Ratings and Reviews

Courtney Ranck-Copher

I own I think all of Julia's classes. This is probably my favorite. I will say that it's because its exactly the type of photography I have been wanting to focus on. So the information was extremely valuable to me. But I do love all of Julia's classes and you can learn so much from her as a mentor regardless of the type of portraits you shoot. Thanks Julia for a wonderful class I have watched it multiple times!

JennMercille

As always, Julia never disappoints! It has been so awesome to watch her work with such incredible intention, from concept to session to sales. Her energy and strategy are so motivational and very, very creative! This class rocks from start to finish, and is a perfect addition to my Creative Live business arsenal! Five stars all the way!!!!!

Amy Vaughn

My favorite part was seeing how Julia's business evolved over time and transformed into what it is today. Good tips for finding inspiration to develop a niche and practical marketing advice. I'm glad I took this alongside Tamara's business class - the two photographers had very different approaches to their business and shooting family photography in many ways, but it really illustrators how there's no one way to do everything. I learned so much from both of them.

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Shoot: Low-key Look for Modern Family

Shoot: Low-key Look for Modern Family

Lesson Info

12. Shoot: Low-key Look for Modern Family

Lessons

Class Introduction

Marketplace Analogy for Family Photography

Mistakes Photographers Make

Benefits of Creating a Niche Family “Look”

Create a Unique Experience & Product

How to Stay on Brand

Defining Your Style

Modern Family Niche Shoot Overview

Equipment for Success

Shoot: Modern Family on Seamless

Shoot: High-key Look for Modern Family