Hey everyone! I’m super excited to share some new work with you. Last week I had my second family photo shoot during our COVID quarantine. Don’t worry, I had my mask on the entire time and remained 6+ feet away from my subjects. It was super safe!

It was also very different from my first family shoot I had done just a few days prior, that had taken place mid-day with a couple and their 6 month old baby.  This time I was shooting around golden hour and had three boys between the ages of 10 and 14 to direct. And they were wonderful to work with, you guys. Truly wonderful. Zero complaints.

So I tried to take my notes from the last photo shoot and apply them to this one. I even wrote notes to myself on a little sticky note that included “RELAX – Take your time” and then stuck them in my breast pocket so that I could pull them out if I needed a refresher mid-shoot. Haha, a little ridiculous, I know. But I think I may continue to do it because I found it so helpful… 😀

Overall I think I did an ok job, however…

Ya know when you’re working with people you’ve maybe never met before and you’re a little bit nervous and then you start to feel awkward or even guilty making them wait in between photo sets while you adjust your camera settings? This is me at almost every photo shoot. I feel bad making people wait which is ridiculous if you really think about it. Camera settings don’t just magically adjust while you’re moving locations unless you’re on auto. It takes a minute. So anyway, I have this tendency to try and move too quickly and just start pressing the shutter before the image is properly set. This creates more work in post which is my least favorite part of the process. What I need to learn is how to slow down.

Keeping that in mind, I also went a little hard on the backlit scenarios. Like too hard. My ISO was higher than it needed to be and my subjects were lit so harshly from the back; the sun just wasn’t quite low enough in the sky for that soft lighting and it also wasn’t being diffused by anything. This gave my subjects a harsh glow around them. I’m really wishing I didn’t make that mistake but ya know, it’s all part of the learning curve. Now I am confident I will never make that mistake again.

Just keep practicing. Put in the work. Keep moving forward and you’ll continue to improve.

Some reflections I made:

•Take time to warm people up. Ask them questions, walk a bit to your first location, explain how the shoot is going to work. (I definitely try to do this. However, I need to get better.) Allot yourself enough time and there should be no rush.

•Take your time. It’s ok to make people wait a little bit while you adjust your camera settings.

•Move around. Don’t be static for every location. And don’t just move forwards and backwards. Move left and right. Maybe have your subject keep their eyes on one point as you move around them. Get those alternative perspectives.

•Look at the photos on your camera as you’re taking them! Not every photo, of course. But every minute or so as you’re moving around. Don’t just start pressing the shutter a million times without double checking the quality of the image you’re actually capturing. I have trouble with this because I’m always worried about missing a moment. However, I realize now that it doesn’t really matter if you capture the moment if the image quality is no good.

•Work on that rule of thirds. You do it all the time in your photography for fun. Now incorporate it into your actual work.

Thank you again Jonathan, Oscar, Wallace, and Benny for being so amazing to work with! Please enjoy a few of my favorites from the shoot. And please, leave a comment if you can relate to me experience or have any useful tid-bits for me! Or even just to say hi 🙂

Warmly,

Skyler