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How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

28 Feb

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

One-year-olds are the best! They’re adorable, of course. They’re hilarious, and you never know what you’re going to get from them. Toddlers are full of wonder and inquisitiveness about everything. Truly, they’re a dream to photograph. One of my favorite moments to photograph is a one-year-old’s first birthday cake – often called a cake smash session.

I’ve laughed so hard that I’ve cried during many of these sessions. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a one-year-old in your life who could enjoy a cake for your camera sometime soon. It’s not too hard to set up, and you almost always get photos that you’ll want to keep forever. Here are some cake smash photo session tips to help you.

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

Capture a few frames before it gets messy

Once the cake is put in front of a one-year-old, you’re not going to get one more clean-faced shot. Even after you’re done with the cake, it’s a sure bet that your little subject will be done, and uninterested in posing for one more photo. To be honest, most sessions end with the little one crying because she realizes she’s a mess, or because you took the cake away from him.

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

So it’s best to catch a few photos before you even let the child see the cake. I love to capture who he is at the moment because this age is just so much fun. Grab a few photos with his favorite toy, or in her bedroom, or taking some wobbly toddler steps.

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Yes, it’s going to get messy

Choose your location wisely, because you never know what’s going to happen. Some toddlers are very cautious and don’t want to do much except poke at the cake. Other toddlers like to fling cake and frosting across the room. I’ve found it best to do cake smash sessions outdoors in good weather, and in the kitchen if it’s too cold outside. The kitchen table works great, because it’s easy to maneuver around for different angles, it keeps the child somewhat contained (I have mom or dad standing close by in case she decides to dive off for some reason, although most one-year-olds are very aware that they don’t want to go near the edge.)

The kitchen table works great, because it’s easy to maneuver around for different angles, it keeps the child somewhat contained (have mom or dad standing close by in case she decides to dive off for some reason, although most one-year-olds are very aware that they don’t want to go near the edge).

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

Put your cute little subject in clothes (or no clothes) that are okay to get ruined or dirty. The parent might want to be prepared to give their toddler a bath right after the session. I’ve seen cake in eyelashes, ears, and every nook and cranny you could think of.

I prefer lighter colored cakes with some bright elements to them. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting may taste the best (if you’re a chocolate lover like I am), but sometimes ends up looking like a bunch of mud on the little one’s face. Usually, the parent chooses whatever cake they’d like, and I make it work.

Make it festive for the birthday boy or girl

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

Since you are celebrating the little one’s first birthday, it’s fun to have some photos where it’s very obvious that it’s a birthday celebration going on. Balloons, streamers, party hats, banners, flags, and festively wrapped gift boxes can all add a nice touch. However, these fun props can sometimes distract your overwhelmed little one, so you may have to just move them away and out of the frame if they aren’t helping to create a fun cake smash atmosphere.

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Remember to keep it fairly simple, because you want the focus to be on the birthday girl or boy, and you may not end up being able to use any of your thoughtful props anyway.

Get close-ups

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

Dimpled fingers, cute little toes, and hilarious cake smashing action are a must to capture close up. I love to show cake in between the toes, or frosting in the eyelashes. I adore those little chubby hands grabbing the cake and shoving it in his mouth. Get shots of those dainty fingers poking at the cake, tentatively testing it out.

You can tell a much better story of the cake fun if you get some close-ups of everything, along with the shots that take everything in. Get lots of angles; try shooting from above, from her eye level, from below, and from every side (as long as your light and your background are okay from all of the angles).

Encourage smashing if needed

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

Sometimes you’ll get a little one that is really hesitant to dig in, and much more of a “taster” than a “cake shoveler”. Sometimes she might not even want cake on her hands at all. You will want to try to capture some photos showing that because photos showing her true personality will be much more valuable than something that is completely out of character and set up by you.

However, there are only so many photos you can take with nothing happening. It may help to have mom or dad give the little guy a taste, making him want more. Maybe you might give him a baby spoon to attack the cake with. When all else fails, you might try breaking a piece out of the cake and putting it in her hand. Oftentimes, she just doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. We don’t usually put an entire cake in front of our children and tell them to make a mess of it.

Be prepared for all of the emotions

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

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Something this new and different can bring out happiness in some kids, and overwhelmed tears in others. Be prepared for those tears, and make sure to capture a few photos before dad or mom comforts him and cleans him up.

It’s okay if every photo isn’t smiling and happy, because, as any parent of a one-year-old can tell you, they are not always smiling and happy. Toddlers often dissolve into tears when things feel overwhelming. Try to keep the session as light and easy as you can, and don’t plan on everything going your way.

Enjoy it all

How to do a Cake Smash Photo Session

You only get a first birthday once in your life, and it should definitely be something to celebrate! Enjoy every moment photographing your little one’s first cake tasting (smash) experience. Hopefully she will enjoy it as much as you do. After all, it’s not every day that you get an entire cake to yourself.

Have you ever heard of cake smash sessions? Have you ever photographed one? I’d love to see your photos in the comments.

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10 Tips for Doing Your First Family Portrait Session

15 Nov

Photographs from a good family portrait session will be treasured for many years to come. It’s an incredibly rewarding area of photography, but it can also be a little daunting for new photographers. You need to build a rapport with the family fast, keep the children on board, and meet the parents’ expectations with gorgeous photographs.

Family portrait FAMILY GROUP

So where do you start? Which camera settings should you choose?

Here are some important pointers to make your first session go smoothly, and to help you take great family portraits.

1. Get down to their level

Get down to a child’s eye level. This will lead to far more engaging photographs, as well as helping you to interact better with the child.

Family portrait INDIV GIRL flowers

2. Use Centre point focus

Different focus settings suit different photographers, but center point focusing tends to be the most useful for family portraits. As you take more and more family portraits, you’ll get a feeling for whether this suits you, But it’s a great starting point for your first session.

3. Choose an appropriate aperture

Your aperture settings will be influenced by the style you prefer. As a starting point, many lifestyle family photographers choose to shoot wide open for individual portraits (f/2.2 works really well), and around f/5.6 for group shots to ensure everyone is in focus.

Family portrait DAD AND SON opt

This was taken at f/5.6.

Family portrait INDIV GIRL park

This was shot at f/2.2.

4. Starting shutter speed

You will probably find yourself needing a slightly faster shutter speed for family portraits than you’d need for many other kinds of portraits. Children move fast, and sometimes unpredictably! A good setting to start with is 1/250th, which will give you flexibility for children rolling over or waving. If you have a situation where someone is moving very fast, such as a child jumping or racing off into the distance, choose a much faster shutter speed like 1/800th.

Family portrait BABY opt

This was taken at 1/800th]

5. Use Auto ISO

While you’re familiarizing yourself with the apertures and shutter speeds that work for you on family portrait sessions, consider setting your ISO to auto. The results are usually satisfactory, and it’s one less thing to think about on the day. As you gain experience and confidence, you can start to select the ISO as you go along.

6. Metering mode

Certain metering options seem to suit some photographers better than others. As you take more family portraits, you’ll soon see which works best for you. To start with, try using spot metering for individual portraits, and evaluative metering for a group shot.

Family portrait MUM AND BABY

This was taken with the evaluative metering mode.

7. Shoot in RAW format

The editing options open significantly in Lightroom, and you’ll have a far greater range of colors and detail recorded if you shoot in the RAW format.

8. Auto White Balance

Set your white balance to auto if you’re doing a location shoot. You’ll be working in a variety of locations with different lighting, and you won’t have much time for setting white balance as you go. Correcting white balance is an easy edit in Lightroom, so you’d be better off spending the time engaging with the family you’re photographing.

9. Choose your lenses

Consider which lenses to take with you to the family portrait session. If your budget doesn’t stretch to having several lenses, consider renting some. It can be surprisingly economical, and it gives you the opportunity to try out different focal lengths to see which suit you best.

 

Family portrait BABY

This was taken with an 85mm lens.

Using several lenses throughout a family portrait session will give you lots of variety in the images, as well as meaning you can cope with most locations. A zoom lens like a 24-70mm will give you lots of flexibility, or a popular prime lens for family portraits is an 85mm lens, which is very flattering for portraits. A wide lens like a 35mm will help you to set the scene.

As you gain experience photographing families, you’ll develop a sense for which lenses suit you best. That’s a good time to invest in the best quality lenses you can afford.

Family portrait SIBLINGS INSIDE

This was taken with a 35mm lens.

10. Set limits

Limit yourself to taking five versions of each scene. This will train your eye to look for the details and expressions you want to capture and to make sure you ultimately combine them all in one photograph.

Conclusion

So there you have it – family portraits in a nutshell. Practice makes perfect, though, so be prepared to work hard and hone your camera skills. Above all, a friendly and professional attitude combined with careful preparation for each family portrait shoot should make for happy clients and repeat business.

Please share your family portrait tips and photos in the comments section below.

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20 Cutest Newborn Baby Photo Props for Spring Session

25 Mar

The right photo props can upgrade your newborn baby shots from “just cute baby photos” to some truly moving images that even a Grumpy-cat-type of person would not resist. Every photo shoot is a whole new experience of capturing a baby’s and parents’ personalities. There are endless ways to make your photo session unique and beautiful using various photo props. Continue Reading

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How to Prepare for a Portrait Session: A Few Things Your Photographer Wishes You Knew

10 Mar

Portrait photography is all about the face and can be really intimate and feel a little obtrusive for subjects that aren’t used to being photographed. But the end result can be beautiful and produce a photo that really captures the person. For the photographer there are a few aspects of different types of portrait photography that they wish their subjects Continue Reading

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8 Tips to Help Make People Comfortable for Their Portrait Session

04 Feb

Portrait photography is an incredibly complex subject to master. You have to worry about a variety of technical matters, including your lighting, location, time with subject, color temperatures, and your composition. In many situations you will be moving around an environment quickly and changing your lighting on the fly. It is a lot to pay attention to, and coordinate at the same time.

Business Portrait Session

On top of all of this, you must figure out how to make, and keep, your subject comfortable throughout the entire session. No matter how much is going right or wrong, or what is going through your head, your primary attention must always be on your subject.

Keeping the subject comfortable and natural is an art form in itself. Obviously, it’s not always possible. Some subjects will be impossible to get through to no matter what, but most of them will rise to the occasion if you can foster the right environment. There are many different ways that portrait sessions can vary, but here is how I like to approach photographing my portrait subjects.

1. Assess the subject’s personality

Each subject will have a different relationship with the camera. Some will have done this before, and will be all business. Some will be extroverted and will love the attention. Some will be uncomfortable at first, but will open up easily after a little time together.

Business Portrait Session

The toughest group are subjects that come in incredibly uncomfortable and stiff, to them you are worse than the dentist. Seriously, there are many people that would much rather go to the dentist than to be photographed by you. These subjects will be the toughest to work with because they, “know I look terrible in front of the camera.” They know this because they know how uncomfortable they get, but they only get uncomfortable because they know they photograph badly. This is a catch 22 that you will have to scratch and claw your way out of, so to speak.

Is your subject extroverted or introverted? Do they like to joke and talk, or are they more reserved. Are they in the middle of a busy day, or do they seem more relaxed. Do they give you a stiff smile? These are all cues that you can pick up on, to help you figure out the best way to get through to them. The better you can understand your subjects, the better you will be able to get them to enjoy working with you, and to eventually feel comfortable with you and the camera.

2. Talk with your subject before the session

Whenever possible, when you first meet your subject, introduce yourself first. Ask them how their day is going to get them talking, then tell them about what you will be doing together. Many subjects will have no idea what to do, or what is about to happen, and will become stiff, nervous, and awkward.

Business Portrait Session

Explain how the session will go, and what you would like them to do. Maybe tell them that you are looking for natural images, casual smiles, and comfortable poses. Let them know that you will tell them what to do over the course of the session, but also mention that if they have ideas that they should bring them up. Is there a way that they feel comfortable standing? Tell them to speak up. Do they want to try something? Tell them to speak up. The best shoots are ones that turn into a collaboration between the photographer and the subject.

3. Help them pose, then change it often

Tell the subject that you will do some posing but that you also want them to stand in a way that is comfortable for them. You can have your subjects play a part in the posing (a few will be bad at this, but most will be good). Ask them, “How would you naturally stand or lean here?” Give them a couple suggestions of what to do by demonstrating a pose. If necessary, put a few example images on your phone or tablet to show them. Keep them moving. Ask them to slightly change their pose every few shots. This will keep them fluid and comfortable, instead of stiff and standing still.

The hands are just as important as the body pose, if not more so. If the subject’s hands feel comfortable, there is a good chance the rest of them will fall into place. Some subjects can get very stiff with the hands if you don’t give them direction. Do you want the hands in front of them, in their pockets, or crossed arms? I usually start by giving these suggestions, and asking them to place their hands in a way that they would normally stand. This often yields a very comfortable pose. Then when I have exhausted that, I will ask them to cross their arms to break them into another comfortable pose, then go from there.

DPS_business_portraiture_2

Changing the pose at the right times is a very important tool. The second your subject starts to look uncomfortable, get them to do something different. Change their hands or their stance. Move them to another location. Every time you break the stiffness is another chance for them to reset themselves into a comfortable pose.

4. Tell them what they are doing right

If your subject is doing something right, tell them! Give them positive reinforcement. Never tell them they look awkward, or they will freeze up even more. I constantly say some variation of, “This looks great” or a more specific compliment. The positivity just keeps things flowing and going in the right direction.

If you like someone’s smile, let them know that. They will instantly feel good, and it will help them recreate that look when you need it. For a few people, when you say something like that, it will kill their natural smile. Pay attention for these people, and obviously stop saying that to them, but for many this will help them recreate that look constantly as you need it. You can say, “Give me that smile from before.” Then if they have trouble doing it, plead and beg them for it in a funny way so they feel comfortable again.

Business Portrait Session

You can tell subjects not to do specific things, but be careful with how you do that as it can kill your momentum. Instead of saying, “Your hands don’t look right,” say, “I think your hands might be a little better this way.” Even your constructive comments can be made in a positive way.

5. Have conversational topics and jokes prepared

Ask lots of questions of the subjects that do not seem to be in a rush. For the ones that need to run out of there, you can only do so much. Even for these people, I will ask a couple simple questions at the beginning, such as, “Are you from New York” or “How has your day been.” Just these alone will give them a chance to talk, and you can go from there. For most people who are not in a rush, I will go a lot further and try to hone in on a topic that of of interested to them. I find that a good conversation over the course of a session, can make the whole session much more comfortable. The more you get them talking, the more they can break out of their shell. At the very least, they will like you.

Business Portrait Session

You do not need to write knock-knock jokes, but think of some funny things ahead of time to talk about, or to use in situations where you are desperate. When a subject begins a session by telling me how much they hate being photographed, I try to say something like, “Well you’re going to hate me then.” A dentist joke will work as well. I then comfortably tell them that they are in good hands, and not to worry. A quick and funny comeback for something like this will make them feel like you are prepared.

Sometimes when I need a smile, I will tell a subject to give me their most uncomfortable smile. This is only in certain moments though. I will never, ever tell the subject directly that they look uncomfortable. That is a road you do not want to go down, but I will make a joke about a stiff smile before they start trying to smile to make a point, and to make it a little humorous.

Have them smile with their whole body. Show them the difference between a smile just with their mouth, and then one with their entire face and body. There’s a big difference between the two, and framing it in this way can explain to them what they should be doing. The shutter click is such a finite moment that it helps if they think of the session as one long video where they are moving into their smiles, and not just turning them on suddenly.

DPS_business_portraiture_3

Often you will have to make slight tweaks to the way a subject is posing. Having a subject put their chin up slightly can be a very good way of getting rid of a double chin, but it also ruins the spontaneity of the moment. The same thing goes when posing people in a chair. Sometimes, the most flattering way to sit is the most awkward. When I have to do any of this, after I will say something like, “Now look natural.” Just the idea of how stiff they are once you do these poses, mixed with that comment, has the frequent effect of relaxing them and bringing out a smile, even with their chin up.

Besides that, I will have conversational topics that I try to bring up on the fly when needed, such as current events, sports, or random stories that I can think of.

6. Use the strengths of your personality to your advantage

Business Portrait Session

Are you an extrovert that can charm and joke with anyone? Then you should have an easier time getting your subjects to laugh and open up, but at the same time you will need to be careful not to overdo it. By talking too much, and commanding the attention in the session, you risk stopping the subject from having their own personality show through. All your images can end up looking the same, as they are the expressions of your subjects laughing at your jokes or comments. If this is naturally you, make yourself ask questions, and stop and listen a little bit more. Making them laugh is fantastic, but it is also different from creating an environment where they feel comfortable enough to open up to you.

Are you an introvert who gets uncomfortable trying to joke and talk with subjects that you have just met for the first time? This can actually be an advantage when you play your cards right, but this is a situation where gaining experience working with people is necessary. In this case, your advantage is your ability to listen and react. Ask your subjects questions, then play off what they say. Pay more attention to their emotions. Get them talking about interesting things that they are passionate about; have them open up that way.

Business Portrait Session

Still be confident and explain what you are doing, but play a more reactive role. Watch videos of other portrait photographers, both the talkative and the quieter ones, and pay attention to what they say to help you improve. Work on funny things to say that you will have in your pocket when you need them, as this will be your initial disadvantage. You will need to work more at first to be good at all of this, but after enough experience, the advantages can swing back in your favor due to your adept listening ability.

7. Don’t show them the images while you are shooting

Sometimes subjects will insist on seeing the images, and you will have no choice, but I always try to get out of having to show the subject the images until the end. I will often say that we can look at the images after, as a way to put them off. Having the subject look at a photo of themselves, especially if they seem self-conscious, can ruin their ability to feel comfortable later on in the session. In addition, two out of 10 shots are usually good anyway and the other eight will never see the light of day. But if they are looking at the back of that camera they will sure as heck see those eight!

Business Portrait Session

For the most uncomfortable subjects, often there is no chance that the photos at the very beginning will be that good. You are just going through the motions as you are trying to make them comfortable over the course of the session. There are not that many situations where the subject seeing the photo is better, unless the subject seems very comfortable from the start.

8. Know that you can’t win them all

You will probably lose a few. You can only do the best with what your subject gives you. Portrait photography can be stressful so always keep that in mind. You can only work with what the subject is able to give you. Do your best for all your subjecs and push and spend more time with the ones that are having trouble, but let’s be frank, some subjects are just better that others.


fastflash_bookStrikingThePose2If you want to learn more about portrait posing and working with people, pick up one of the dPS ebooks by Gina Milicia Portraits: Striking the Pose (left) or her brand new one called: Fast Flash for Portrait Perfection (right).

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Extreme made easy: GoPro HERO4 Session review

03 Feb

GoPro HERO4 Session review

Waterproof, ruggedized, incredibly-small and lightweight, the Session is a no-brainer to toss in your bag or coat pocket before heading out on an adventure. 

The GoPro HERO4 Session is the company’s latest action camera release. Unlike GoPros before it, the Session is completely waterproof without the need for any housing. It is also the smallest, lightest GoPro to date, 50% smaller than the HERO4 (Black or Silver) and 40% lighter.

The GoPro HERO4 Session is capable of video capture at the following resolutions and frame rates:

 Video Resolution Frame rate 
1920 x 1440  30 fps, 25 fps
1920 x 1080  60 fps, 50 fps, 48 fps (in Ultra Wide mode only), 30 fps, 25 fps
1280 x 960  60 fps, 50 fps, 30 fps, 25 fps
1280 x 720  100 fps, 60 fps, 50 fps, 30 fps, 25 fps
848 x 480  120 fps, 100 fps

The Session has dual microphones – one on the front and another on the back – for improved audio quality. The camera will automatically choose to prioritize one mic over the over, depending on the scenario. Stills can be captured at a frame rate as fast as 10 fps (limited to 1 sec bursts). Images are captured at 8MP resulting in a 3264 x 2448 still.

The Session can also capture time-lapses. Available intervals include 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 and 60 secs.

Auto Low Light, a feature that determines video frame-rate based on lighting conditions, gives the promise of better low light video quality, something that action cams are not particularly good at. It’s worth noting that video files will playback at the selected frame-rate and resolution when using Auto Low Light.

ProTune, an option that allows users to dial in more advanced settings, is available on the HERO4 Session. Selecting ProTune allows users to set their ISO limit (either ISO 400 or ISO 1600), and toggle sharpness on and off. The Session also features a spot meter mode, that, as you may have guessed, determines exposure based on a small point in the center of the frame.

What’s included

In addition to the unit itself, the GoPro HERO4 Session ships with just enough to get you started, including: a standard frame, a low-profile frame, one curved adhesive mount, one flat adhesive mount, a ball joint buckle and mounting buckles. A Micro-USB cable is also included for charging and transferring files directly from the GoPro to a computer.

Compared to Siblings

The price of the GoPro HERO4 Session recently dropped to $ 200. Here’s how it sizes up against GoPro’s other current offerings:

  HERO4 Session  HERO4 Black  HERO4 Silver  HERO+
Max Video Resolution

1440/30p

4K (UHD) 2160/30p

4K (UHD) 2160/15p

1080/60p
Photo Resolution 3264 x 2448 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000  3264 x 2448
 Waterproof (without a housing) Yes  No  No No
 Max Still Burst 10 fps 30 fps 10 fps 5 fps
 Weight 74 g 152 g 147 g 123 g
 Street price $ 200 $ 500 $ 400 $ 200

Design

The HERO4 unit itself is a tiny 1.5″ cube. The body has only two buttons: the large record button on top, located directly in front of the LCD, and a small Info/Wi-Fi button on the lower portion of the back (see lower image). Press the record button once to turn the camera on and start capture – by default the video will be 1080/30p. Press and hold the record button for two seconds to start a time-lapse. By default it will shoot a photo every half-second. In both cases, hitting the record button again stops capture and powers the device down.

Users can change video and still capture settings, in addition to turning on Wi-Fi by hitting the Info/Wi-Fi button and poking through the options. However, the two-button ergonomics can make for a pretty confusing user experience. We found it much easier to change settings by using the GoPro app. 

The LCD on top displays the battery life, recording mode, resolution and clip length (when capturing video), or the number of photos left (if you’re shooting a time-lapse). A small switch on the side of unit, when pressed, reveals the Micro-SD card slot and Micro-USB port (see below).

The HERO4 Session is impressively tough. The body is coated in a rubber-like material, and the door containing the Micro-USB port and microSD slot appears well-sealed. We’re not entirely sure what kind of glass the front element is made of, but several run-ins with a flying skateboard didn’t even leave a scratch. Seriously, we beat this unit up quite a bit over the course of field testing it, with no damage to speak of. 

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9 Tips that Make Couples Happy During a Portrait Session

22 Jan

Whenever a camera appears, you can bet your caboose that there are emotions swirling for 99% of the human population. From fear and disdain, to reverting to the classic Chandler Bing smile, people tend to exaggerate or warp their behaviour in front of the camera in endlessly inventive ways. But unless you’re going for a Sears portrait look, your job as a photographer is to not only deliver an end-product that thrills your clients, it’s to make the shoot an awesome experience as well.

Here are nine of my favorite, tried-and-true strategies for helping clients forget about the camera, and have a good old time on their shoot.

DpsCouplesimage1

1 – Model the behaviour you want

A shoot can be fraught with stress, so for the love of Annie Leibowitz, don’t add to it. When people arrive at a shoot, they are almost invariably nervous, and will be looking to you for all their cues. Take the lead in creating the atmosphere you’re hoping for, and your clients will follow suit almost subconsciously. You have a huge opportunity to model the relaxed, joyful, behaviour you want to capture, simply by setting the tone and mood of the shoot from the get-go!

This is so simple, but laugh. Crack jokes, if that’s your thing. Show them you’re willing to get weird, and it’ll liberate them to fall into a relaxed zone that brings out great images. It’s not about putting on a performance, but about being so yourself and comfortable in your own skin, that your clients can’t help but do the same.

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2 – Learn to read people

On that note, hone in your ability to read your clients so they really feel seen as individuals, and not two-dimensional subjects, and adapt to their specific personality. In many ways you have to be a chameleon, ready to provide to whatever the client might need from you to make them comfortable. We usually talk a lot throughout our shoots, and have found that most people react well to constant positive feedback, but not everyone wants a running commentary. There’s a fun balancing act to figure out what your client will respond to, and this is a good life skill as well.

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3 – Find an in

Whether it’s talking baseball, vintage cars, or Japanese flower arranging, finding some common ground can put even the stiffest of the stiff more at ease. They’ll loosen up, see you as a teammate, and get more invested in following whatever direction you have for them. We’ve established trust with clients by talking with them about everything from beers in Thailand, to Tom Brady’s throwing motion. Chat it out, listen for non-sequiturs and when you find an in, go for it.

4 – Treat your camera like a commonplace object

By treating your camera like it ain’t no thang, with no more emotion connected to it than a chair or a mailbox, you can help couples forget that it’s there (well, almost). When starting a shoot, spend as much time as possible chatting, and relaxing with the couple before you ever lift the camera. Hold it in your hand as if it’s no more consequential than a cup of coffee. This action may seem subtle, but your clients are looking to you for their behavioural cues, and treating the camera like something to not think twice about, will allow them to consider it equally as casually.

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5 – Have the subject help you design the shoot

Giving your clients plenty of say in the terms of how the shoot goes, is a huge key to making them relaxed. Doing extra legwork ahead of time, like guiding them with their outfits and locations, allows them to show up already feeling invested and in control over much of their experience. The old relationship advice that “communication is key” could not be more apt. Spending time before the shoot helping people feel like their voice is being heard, is central to great images.

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6 – Tell a better story

We’ve all been that novice photographer who, in a desperate attempt to capture a mirthful photo of unrehearsed laughter, says something panicked like “okay, now make each other laugh”. That’s not funny, y’all! You gotta be more creative than that. If you’re photographing a couple, ask one of them to tell the other about their most embarrassing childhood moment, using only interpretive dance. Tell them to reenact their first meeting, using emotive eye contact, instead of words. Get detailed and ridiculous in these requests, because then you’ll be able to fully leap into #7.

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7 – Shoot between the lines

You likely won’t keep the image of the poor guy interpretive dancing, but you’ll probably keep the one of the couple cracking up together in between moves. Here’s the real secret to natural looking photos – the in-between photos ARE the photos. The unposed, unrehearsed, laughing at fart jokes, or because your photographer told you they were “just going to test the light” but really you’re capturing them enjoying life together. Those are the images that end up being keepers. Keep that camera at the ready and shoot between the lines to get the good stuff.

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8 – Keep those hands moving

Every once in a while, we’ll leave the open-ended coaching behind and give a people a very specific pose to try. And no matter what the pose is, no matter how natural it felt when they first tried it, it’s going to get clunky-looking if you make them hold it for long enough. There are a few reasons why someone might need to keep a general pose for a bit — if you’re grabbing different angles, shooting with unique lenses, etc. — but our big piece of advice for them is to always keep their hands moving. With the free-reign to move their hands in whatever way feels natural to them, they’ll avoid the stiff prom-pose look, while still keeping the general idea of the pose you gave them. It sounds silly, but this one seriously works.

9 – Get your own photo taken – often

If you are amongst the hordes of photographers and humans who hate having their own photo taken, this piece of advice goes double for you. You MUST MUST MUST put yourself in your clients’ shoes! Be uncomfortable! Learn what strange tics you have. Know how to comfortably have your photo taken, so you know firsthand how to coach your clients. Standing in their shoes is our number one piece of advice, because as you teach yourself to be in photos comfortably, it’ll become ever-easier to coach your clients to do the same. Get thee in front of a lens. You’ll be a better photographer for it.

So while you may not be able to alleviate someone’s multiple decade love/hate relationship with having their photo taken, focusing on making each client’s shoot experience stellar is the first step on the road to the beautiful, natural, photos you and your client are aiming for. Because if you aren’t having fun, why bother?

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Polaroid licensee sues GoPro over cube-shaped Session action camera

04 Nov

C&A Marketing, a Polaroid licensee that makes the Cube action cameras, has sued GoPro over its newly introduced Hero4 Session camera. The new GoPro model is cube-shaped and resembles Polaroid’s own Cube and Cube+ action camera models, allegedly infringing upon C&A’s design patent. Read more

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Class Is In Session! Turn Photos Into School Supplies

13 Aug

Can it be? Summer’s almost over? It feels like it just started.

Guess that means it’s time to switch sunbathing for school supplies. But hey, that’s not a bad thing. Really!

Just check out our list of DIY school supplies that you can make out of your very own photos and you’ll see what we mean.

Now go get crafty and make all your classmates jelly!
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Shooting Indoors in Ambient Light: Yoga Photo Session

23 Jul

Shooting indoors is always a challenge unless you have a professional lighting setup with you. The light is usually low, so it’s hard to get any kind of depth of field. Lightbulbs inside of lamps tend to glow orange, while overhead florescent lights show up on the greenish side, and aren’t very pretty. So what do you do? Let your Continue Reading

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