Ben

[Mike McCarty]

I would nix both of these.

In the first one you could get much better results if you would back him away from the window and turn him toward the light. Your first window light attempt above was much closer.

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Mary, I agree with Mike about these two. The poses in the first two batches were better, in my opinion, I would choose one of those.

Will you choose the ones you think are good and then show those photos to the mom? I'm curious how this part of the process goes for you.

Joan

[Mary Sparrow]

Thanks Mike.

Joan, We took a quick look at these pictures before I ever left their house. The problem I foresee happening now, is because she thought they were all good, she has her favorites, and her favorites just may not be the best for painting. So I will be in for a battle I have a feeling. I need for this one to be good because her mother wants 8 (of each grandchild)!

[Mary Sparrow]

The mother and I have not decided on anything for her portrait yet. But I wanted to "try" the back-lit one. I was 95% done, brought that nice glowing little face up to take a picture to check on the computer. I put it on the dining room table, the phone range, I turn around and here comes one filfthy toddler.

Now I have one hazy ruined face, hours down the drain and am looking for the SHOUT.

[Julie Deane]

Oh Mary -

I really feel for you....Kids - we love 'em, but I bet you were "fit to be tied" as my mom used to say.

Funny, I remember that saying being used a lot growing up.
My mom was a writer, and I don't think I ever messed up any of her manuscripts but I am sure the difficulties and frustrations in raising kids and practicing your craft are the same in any discipline.

Anyway, I'm so sorry you have to start over. But I bet the second painting will be even better!

[Allan Rahbek]

Mary,

If it could be any comfort to you, Turner sometimes used kids to start his watercolors. They were especially good to make nonsense scribbles on his paper, and he was equally good to make sense of it.

Allan

[Mary Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

.

.... if you would back him away from the window and turn him toward the light. Your first window light attempt above was much closer.

Hey Mike, I totally understand what you are saying now I need to understand the magic spell?

I know most of you shy away from very young children simply because of some of the problems that you face trying to get resource photos. Well, that isn't an option for me, I truly LOVE paiting those pudgy little people and am not going to stop. But as I was reading your above statement my brain flashed to the moment I was taking those indoor shots. By that time we had gotten to that window ANY thought of getting him to pose where I wanted him to was a joke, so we basically bribed him to stay in that general area and shot away while he talked our ears off about various important issues.

Small children move around so fast, that being methodical and posing them while looking for the perfect lighting conditions is next to impossible b/c as soon as you think you have it they see something better a foot over and bam..your perfect picture is gone.

So what do you you do? What, if any, steps can be taken by people like me that are going to take this task on?.

Once a child is 5-6 or so, they are more patient and cooperative making it easier to pose them..(of course then, the new issue is getting a NATURAL expression on their face instead of CHEEZ).

Maybe this is a question for the creativity issues section?

[Janel Maples]

Hi Mary,

I thought I would share some things with you that I learned by accident and now use to my advantage. I do not have years of experience behind me but my wheels turn fast when what I am doing isn't going well.

I have a soon to be three year old son who, like most toddlers, isn't still for a second. Before I bought my digital Rebel I couldn't get a clear shot of him because everything was blurred due to motion. I know you to have a good camera so that is a good thing.

Janel's Reccommendation #1 for photographing balls of energy-- Have a good camera.

#2-- is to take pictures of them doing what they love to do ( and are very good at doing with a natural expression) ........play.

#3--If you have to pose them, have them tell you a story about something important to them while you take "test shots" to "adjust you camera" (wink) I just did a photo shoot of a 5 yr. old future drama major and the best shots were the ones she did not know were the real thing.

#4--Do your homework ahead of time. Take an older, more cooperative child to the park (or wherever) and locate the shots that have good possibilities. This way you are educated about lighting and where you need to be and when. Then, when your subject enters that space, you are ready for the shot.

I don't mean for this to sound like hunting.

Hope this helps. It works for me, I now have a really nice collection of great photos of my three year old.

Janel

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Janel, thank you for posting those great ideas for taking photos of young children.

I have been experimenting so much with getting good resource photos that on my last photo shoot of a 'model' that I was paying by the hour, I practiced on my son over and over again until I understood the light before the model arrived. That helped so much, I saved a lot of time when the real model came over.

I recently looked out my window and saw the neighbor's twins outside. Great, I thought, so I grabbed my digital camera and off I was to take some photos. They're not even two yet! I came away from that 'photo shoot', if you can call it that, with no usable photos. Every time I would say one of their names or they would see the camera, they would make a bee line for the camera. Their objective was to get their face 2 inches away from the camera lens. Next time I plan to have them sitting in a chair inside their house. (I can hear laughing out there ! Anyway, I'll try that.)

Mary, I too enjoy painting children. I know I read here somewhere on the forum the suggestion of having a mom, or somebody, hold the child. That might be something to consider, if it's a head and shoulders anyway.

It seems like it just takes lots and lots of photos to get a good one. I think you got some great ones of Ben.

Joan

[Mike McCarty]

Mary,

The only chance any of us have is to control as many variable as we possibly can. When your subject is an uncontrollable variable, you have to look to those aspects of the formula that you can control.

Find out from the parent what time of the day the child is most fresh and manageable. For most kids this is morning. Don't schedule your shoot twenty minutes after their usual nap time.

The out of doors is nothing but one big variable. Couple that with an unpredictable kid and your degree of success will be totally unpredictable.

Light is the one factor that you should be able to control, eliminate it as a variable. Luckily, this is one of only a few important components of success. If you can't get a grip on this one controllable aspect then your dead meat no matter how old the subject. If you can't figure out a natural light angle then work toward an artificial set up.

Most kids will tolerate some degree of control. It's a matter of getting your work done before you include them into the mix. Work out the lighting on the mother or sister while the subject is free to be his own boss. When you are ready, put the kid in a chair and shoot as many as you can. Hire Billy Crystal to stand behind you, blow a kazoo, set yourself on fire. You can shoot fifty shots in a matter of minutes. If the light is good and the kid is fresh, you'll get something.

When your finished, tell the people that you will evaluate the results and get back to them. Do not let them see the raw footage. After you evaluate, if you only have three that are worthy, then show them three. If you only have one, show them one, if you have none, then do it again.

Control the variables, manage their energy, don't invite amateurs into your decision making process. Do these things and you've got about a fifty fifty chance.