Tips on taking better photos - Long Island Photographer: Hello Olivia Photography
“For a moment I felt joyful, and then I felt completely exhausted.”
― Ottessa Moshfegh
Looking back on how quickly my oldest went from baby to big kid and seeing it happen again with kiddo #2, it dawned on me pretty quickly that our covid hiatus was a blessing in disguise.
While no one planned to be stuck at home for months on end, it really helped me to reconnect with my kids and focus more on what is important and less on what isn’t.
These are the days that I’ll remember fondly when my kids are older and out of the house. No one is going to give a shit if the house is clean, beds are made, laundry done. We’ll remember the fun times of being together and all the memories (and chaos) that went along with it. Since these are the days that mean the most, I went on a mission to document everything.
Olivia is an incredibly kind yet stoic person. She is very serious but has a wicked sense of humor when you get her going. Amelia is equal parts natural disaster and showman. She is dramatic and over the top, but is full of love for everything and everyone.
I want to remember my children just as they are right now in this moment. All those quirks and qualities that are unique to them; their childhood, their innocence and the other things that go along with it.
Here are some questions I think about when shooting, just to give you some perspective.
· What’s your why? Who are these photos for?
· What is something your child does that is uniquely them that you want to remember?
· What routines do your children have (morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime, bath time)?
· What activities and hobbies do they enjoy? What do they do in their quiet time?
I think taking pictures is as much for my kiddos as it is for myself. My dad was an avid photographer and I love looking back on my childhood photos. I also love looking at old family photos in general – its so awesome to see what my parents lives (and grandparents lives) were like before I was even a thought in their head. It didn’t matter if the photo was “professional level quality” or not. Half the time most of our old family photos weren’t even in focus.
What I want is for my kids to see what life was like when they were little and how I, as their mom saw them. We know what a thief time can be and how quickly memories fade – photographs keep the memories alive!
Quick Tips:
Decide in advance what you want to capture.
It’s guaranteed that if my kids are helping in the kitchen, chaos ensues at some point. EVERY SINGLE TIME. In this series of images, I knew well in advance that something would eventually happen. You just have to wait for it to unfold. Taking candid lifestyle images is all about setting people up in an activity and allowing that to playout.
By deciding in advance what I wanted to shoot, I had the ability to set up parts of the scene - like the light and composition - so that the final image is still real life, but slightly more polished.
Do you need a fancy camera to do any of this? Nope. These same ideas work with any camera you have in your hands.
Take LOTS of pictures.
Spray and pray is a real thing and something I use often. I have zero shame in saying it. Shooting through a scene makes kids less camera aware (less of that “cheese face / deer in the headlights look) and you have the added benefit of training your eyes to seeing what works in certain photos and what does not.
Each of these images required a ton of shooting to get just the right photos. Sometimes with fast action shots, it’s easier (for me at least) to burst my camera and hope for the best.
Get your kiddos involved!
My kids find photo taking way easier to stomach when they get to pick an activity or decide what the photo should be about.
In essence this is what a documentary style photo sessions are about - Talking about all the things & feelings you want to remember. It gives me a roadmap of important details to be on the lookout for.
My kids are all about photos when one of the grandmas is involved. Grandma and my kids share a love for eating out and just sitting around telling stories.
Both kids, but Amelia specifically love shopping trips (especially with those baby carts at Trader Joes!).
At the end of the day, it’s always better to have than have not. How many times have you been sucked down the memory hop timeline on facebook, or worse, going through your camera roll from years ago? No more excuses - take those photos!!! You’ll never regret it.