Lessons
Lesson Info
Tip 5: Hold the Cheese Please!
That brings me to this, which is hold the cheese please so when you're capturing these stories, you do have to push further than the initial inclination and like I said when I photographed families, the first thing they all want to do is pose and I realize it's harder to completely just not do that if I try to be like no, no, we don't operate that way they're like we don't know what to do now so I'm like great let's do that and we shoot it and I just shoot it kind of get it out of the way then to get to the good stuff, but you really have to push and a lot of times the kids may not really feel a very cooperative, so they may be pouting and to me that is a great part of the story. One of the worst things that I think people do when they're trying to capture their kids is telling them to say cheese and it just I don't know kids like all over they just they learn it, they know it and when I show up with the camera they immediately stopped tio getting on I think terrible grand right? So I'...
m hoping that I can just like shield my son from that, but we'll see if he gets it, I don't know he may just absorb it from the culture, but when I saw this image his mother was actually standing like off camera and she was like trial evidence on and he was just like I'm not having it mom and she's like dang it I mean you better style and he was like no and she was you know, a minute kept escalating like you're not going to get a cookie no I'm gonna tell your father no into account going and I would play stop because I thought this was great this with him on that day in that moment and this is true emotion whereas his smile would have been the worst smile wait especially with mom wake to think of the harm it would have been terrible so I love this image and I think it's much, much more realistic here's another image from a family that drove up to see me in the studio from kansas actually I think they came from kansas so the kids have been in the car for several hours late three or four hours and they got to the studio and it was like ping pong balls like they just opened the door and the kids like burst in I mean they were like exploding out of the car and I this is my favorite image from the whole shoot because I feel like it just captures what their lives I would feel like about time with two little kids who are literally hanging on them you know when they're fun and happy but they are a handful and I just think that's great that is the story of their lives at that moment this is another little kid was having a moment of not really feeling the photos on dh that is great another one of my favorite images and that's that's what happens and I think you just you just got to go with it when I photograph my little guy you know? Of course I want him to giggle and smile on occasion I want to capture it when he's naturally doing it but a lot of times he's not having that while I'm got the camera out and I've actually got some great images of him making all kinds of crazy faces because I just let him go and whatever he's doing that's what I capture so you have to be flexible and I think you can end up with some better better pictures. This was another family session and their two year old go figure was not having it so they are course or like let's sit over here and like I don't know how all of our faces in the photo on the two year old just like not me and he just ran right towards me and I I love this photo because he's running towards me most of the time when I'm shooting families if the kid's not cooperating the parents are freaking out right because they're paying good money and like they want this and they've coordinated outfits and they went shopping and they clean everybody and combed hair and all of this so they're just like they have to work um and so I was expecting when he came to towards the camera like this and I shot it I I wasn't really registering that they were having this great expression I was like this is probably going to be a throw away but they they were laughing and just rolling with it instead of going oh no he's ruining a comeback over that you know if they had been like showing frustration in their faces this would be a throwing image but they just embraced it and it totally saved the photo and I love it it's another one of my favorites sometimes you know just play time is fun and your subjects don't have to be looking at you at all or you know I like it best when they just forget I'm even there and then there's this little stinker who just straight up like we're trying to have some fun and she just turned away for me like nope you are not going to photograph my base and I would be like perry come on and she just nope totally wouldn't have it but I just turned it into a game and I was just playing with her and eventually she's are laughing and I caught that. So I think the trick is when you're trying tio capture this stuff and captured the story and not have the cheese, especially with the kids, you have tio make a bit of a mess first and take some pictures that, you know, we're going to be crap and that's, okay, it's kind of like, if you bake a cake, you have to break some eggs and make a bit of a mess. I think the same is true with pictures and pushing through because initially everyone's a little stiff up front and they haven't really relaxed into the shoot, especially the kids, you know, they're going to she's just feisty. I mean, she just wanted to be like, I'm not cooperated, he was being a a total seeker, but I just was, like, fine, and we just played with it, and then eventually I caught her on that's a great thing to about digital is we don't have to worry that we're burning up film while we push through some of the stuff so you you can have more room tio just push forward like that, and I think it ends up being really helpful.
Ratings and Reviews
Elad
Short, very basic, very general and non-technical. Can't say anything presented helped or impressed me, but new comers might find it interesting.
1claud9
She simply makes sense. I like learning tips from Khara.
MARGARET NICOSIA
I think her ideas were simple to follow and to consider before going out to shoot. No ah-ha moments for me....nice that the ideas are short and to the point. thanks