In this latest issue of the Sandbucket you will find this image of my daughter Gracie.
The truth is, to get that one image there were hundreds taken….
A dozen that I loved and then narrowed down further to get the “one.”
I thought it might be fun to share with you some of the other shots from the shoot and tell how we got them.
First of all, the gown was chosen. It is from Eden’s Bouquet. It is an amazing gown.
The head pieces were necklaces of mine I had gotten from J.Crew previous years. We just pinned them to fit around her head.
The violin is Gracie’s. This shoot was taken shortly after Grace turned 10. Grace actually does play the violin. She started just this year. As a parent I love to get pictures of my children that shows who they are and what they are doing in their lives at that time. While she really doesn’t dress up in evening gowns with a wreath of flowers around her head too often, she does dance (notice the ballet shoes) and play the violin.
This shoot was done in the evening just before the sun went down. For the perfect lighting I love to take photos at this time in my front yard. I place the subject with their back to the sun. How do you find the perfect lighting in your situation? Trial and error. Take pictures. Look at the results. If you take a lot of pictures you can study your results and determine what you like. Do you like the sun backlighting your subject? Do you like how the sun highlights her hair?
Even if you are just snapping shots of your child at random times, take lots of pictures. Even if you think you got the perfect shot, take more.
I will often take 5 to 10 shots of the same exact pose. Each shot will vary slightly.
The movement of the hair, a hand or of course the blinking of the eyes can make all the difference.
I love to have subjects lay down and shoot from above.
The rose petals were a quick impromptu. We happened to have roses on our bushes at the time. And if you do this, don’t forget to fluff out the hair.
There is something about the click of the camera that makes me all happy inside.
Creating scenes and capturing shots of my own children is one of my favorite things to do.
Now get out there, be creative and take some fun shots of your own children! And have fun!
Oh, you are in trouble with that Gracie, girl… she is a beauty! Evan needs to stash the weaponry now.
Great post.
P.S. I love that you take so much time to do beautiful shoots with your own children. It is most important and you make it so. It inspires me to be better about it with my own. Thank you.