photographing children
Last weekend, I attended the first birthday party of Gracie, the little girl I babysit. I think I must have been the only person there who wasn't married! And one of the only ones who didn't have children. But I find that my camera is fine company in these situations. It's like when I was in middle school and never felt like I fit in. I was so painfully shy, I would read books through lunch so I wouldn't have to talk to people. I loved my books. But in those situations, I was using them as a prop. They gave me a good excuse not to be social in situations where I was not comfortable doing so.
Anyhow, this party turned into a child photography session for me. I got a number of shots I was quite proud of. But I noticed that these shots have been virtually ignored on my flickr page. The experience taught me that child photography is tricky. People love pictures of the children in their own family but when the subject is NOT family, the appeal is not as strong. Pictures of babies are just pictures of babies. Unless the shot is something unusual and extraordinary.
I guess these shots are not as extraordinary as they seemed to me. But I'm posting them here anyway. Just because I like them.
Anyhow, this party turned into a child photography session for me. I got a number of shots I was quite proud of. But I noticed that these shots have been virtually ignored on my flickr page. The experience taught me that child photography is tricky. People love pictures of the children in their own family but when the subject is NOT family, the appeal is not as strong. Pictures of babies are just pictures of babies. Unless the shot is something unusual and extraordinary.
I guess these shots are not as extraordinary as they seemed to me. But I'm posting them here anyway. Just because I like them.
posted by Karen at 3:13 PM
4 Comments:
I actually did find people who appreciate child photography on flickr when I joined a group called "natural light child photography" and added these. The feedback was much more encouraging!
hey karen! these are pretty nice. i do like child photography - one of my friends in new york is a faaaantastic child photographer. she works for kindercare, so she gets the opportunity to take lots of pictures. her baby stuff is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bran/search/tags:babies/
she has some cuties, the better pictures are on the second and third pages. i think she is one of my favorite photographers all around.
The one with the girl at the piano is extraordinary. Great framing and subject. Great capture with the natural light. If she had turned the other way, it would not have been as effective. And what an expression.
You were there, you were ready, and you caught it.
Nice job.
The funny glasses one is a nice piece of photojournalism, too.
Light is essential for effective photography. This sounds like a no-brainer. For example, the kid at the staircase is cute, but the photo loses some effect because his face is in the shadow.
Remember with pictures of people, what are you drawn to first? The eyes and the face, naturally. We interact socially with our eyes and faces. If the eyes are windows to the soul, that is what you want to capture. If the eyes are hard to see, the viewer will have a harder time seeing the soul in your portrait.
Keep up the great work.
The first two are wonderful photos. I've never seen your photo blog before, just found it on The T-files.
Have you worked with off-camera flash any? You ought to look into it. Check out the "Strobist" group on flickr, and this blog:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/
You need to dig through the archives on the blog, but there is some good reading there. Those first two images are awesome, by adding your own light you could have amped them even more.
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