Category Archives: How-To

How-To, My Family, Personal

SMILE!

2 Comments

The light was so beautiful at my house last night that I knew I wanted to TRY to get some pictures of my two little men.

All I had to do was put them in a spot with beautiful light and tell them to smile, right?

Sure…

To get this picture I did a little more then that.

First I put them in a wagon so it would seem more fun (and it was harder to escape).

That still only got me this.

Two cute uninterested boys in a wagon.

Then I changed up my tactics.

Make a funny face!

I was doing it also or they would not have been looking at me.

They found it funny but I was wanting some nice smiles directed at the camera.

They have also seen my funny face too many times to think it is funny for long.

Time to change again.

I focused on them kept my shot steady, peeked out from behind the camera and said in a really deep voice, “frown, no smiling allowed”.

I said it OVER and OVER and OVER…

Which led to the above and below pic.

With little boys you have to be ready because you might only get the shot you want once. So I was snapping and snapping.

To get these two shots I took close to 60 pictures.

And I consider that a pretty good ratio when it comes to my boys.

So get your camera, something to contain (trap) your subjects, and get your silly on!

Families, How-To, Personal

What I want from you.

5 Comments

I wanted to share my thoughts on how we can work together to make your photography session with me turn out the best pictures of you and your family.

First, relax. Children pick up on your unease and it shows on you and them in the pictures. So take a deep breath, find that happy place, and eat some chocolate if needed (it helps me).

I have two boys and they do not like to cooperate for the camera, so if your children don’t want to smile for a complete stranger it does NOT bother me! They just need a little time to get to know me.

Secondly, try to dress your children in clothing that they can get a little dirty. It is okay to dress them in nice clothes but make sure they are not so nice they can not feel free to be themselves. I love it when a child is so wrapped up in the world around them they forget I am even there! So let them explore a little bit. And that goes for the parents also. Please dress in a way that interacting with your children during the pictures will be possible.

That brings me to my third and final thought.

Interaction. I love it when parents get down with their children and interact with them during a shoot! A child receiving their parents attention gives the most beautiful smiles ever. Those looks of love really translate breathtakingly to pictures!

So when you come to a session with me be prepared to be yourself and have some fun.

Thank you.

How-To, Personal

How to trick your child into a good picture

1 Comment

My boys think their mission in life is to prepare me for worst case scenarios of child photography.

My two year old never looks at the camera unless I say something totally crazy, make a funny noise(he is getting immune to that one), or totally surprise him.

How do I get the cute pictures of them you ask? Okay, maybe you did not ask that but you should…so I can feel like I am helping.

1. Give them something totally new to explore, play with, or eat(they love beautiful suckers or pretty much anything messy to eat)

2. Take advantage, I wait until they have to stand still(because they just got in trouble) or they are wanting to tell me something. They usually look at me while talking to me(usually, not always)

3. Most of all I work at making them laugh, I very rarely ask my children to smile for the camera. I would not get the natural smile I am wanting. Instead I talk about something goofy or praise them. My oldest loves to hear how awesome he is.

My goal is to have a picture that I can laugh at. I love to look at a picture and remember how crazy I was being to get that cute smile!

What do you do for smiles?

Sneak Peek~Pastor & Theresa Watts

PastorWatts