Dear readers, I am so pleased to hand you over to the lovely Carrie Butler. I had the privilege of being part of one of Carrie’s wedding shoots this spring, and she had the entire fifty plus of us cracking up and feeling fabulous. Of course when I saw the pictures I had to call her and ask her to be a part of this. I’m so excited she said yes, and I’m excited for you to get to spend a little time with her too. Take it away, Carrie!

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Several years ago I got a fancy new camera.  I read the instruction manual from cover to cover, promptly forgot everything it said, and shot most things in the decidedly un-fancy auto mode.  I didn’t have the time or the courage to learn how to really tell a story with my pretty camera.  I would frequently get some  cool photos, however, I knew  the credit should only go to the fancy camera, not me.  If I were asked to replicate the same cool shot I would invariably thank luck and not skill.  Is this where some of you are at?  Did you get a camera that is so pretty that it turns heads everywhere you go?  Do you feel like maybe your photos could stand to be a little more interesting?

Amber Lee and I have hatched a scheme to get you past “meh” pictures and into “oh my gosh, look what I got” pictures.  So here we go,  we’ll start with the basics before moving on to the fun stuff like aperature, shutter speed and ISO.  Lets talk about composition.

Now chances are good that you got that cool camera because you have cute kiddos and you must as any good parent should, document every detail of their tiny life.  After all, they are only going to (suck their thumb, sniff their blanket, play with bugs, wear their shoes backwards, insist on combing their own hair) for at the most, six months, right?  How awesome if you had all those things documented with a great photo?

The key to this is to consider what story you are trying to tell with the photo you are taking at the time, and then, carefully composing your photo to include all the characters in that story.  Take out everything that does not contribute.  Sometimes that means you need to change the position of the camera, or maybe the angle, sometimes that means getting in really close, and sometimes it means zooming out.  A lot of times it means getting down and shooting at the same level as the child.  Or the child’s feet.

Here is an example.  One of the first things my daughters did as an activity together is chalk drawings on the back patio.  It was so sweet; they would entertain themselves for at least five to ten minutes without major mishap.  This as you mommies know, is a big deal.  I wanted to capture how it looked to me, their happy mother, so I shot them from above, I arranged the chalk basket a little closer to them, and I moved the plastic little tykes picnic table, since it had nothing to do with the story. 

It isn’t rocket science and I pretty positive that these shots aren’t going to win any awards or anything, but every time I see it, I think, “ahh, remember how great that was the first time they played together quietly?”

The next story I wanted to tell was just how dirty little Mia, whose primary mode of transportation at the time was scooting, got in all the chalk dust.  So I got down low, waited for her to move into her favorite foot position, and snapped only her feet. 

(Eek, look at her pudgy, dusty little tootsies!! I want to squeeze them!)

So, think about it, what is part of your life right now that you’ll want to remember in a couple years? If you have kids, what is your kid doing right now that he won’t be doing six months from now that you need to remember?  Does she love a special stuffed animal?  Does she read a specific book while she sits on the potty? Your homework is to get out your camera, (fancy or not) set up the story, and take the shot.  Here are some tips.

1. Clear out everything that does not contribute or will detract from the story, either by physically removing it, or changing the camera angle.
2. If you are photographing your kids, get down on your their level.  Does the photo look more or less interesting?
3. With kids and grown-ups, wait for him/her. Kids hate to be told what to do when there is a camera out, at least mine do.  I have found that if I am just a little bit patient, they will usually do whatever it is I was waiting on them for, ie, Mia crossing her feet in the above photo.
4. Place the subject to one side or another, top or bottom, or get in close and fill the frame.  See what looks best.
5. Try not to distract him/her from whatever it is they are doing, ie, don’t ask them to look at the camera.

Ok, so there is the assignment, there are the tips.  Want some accountability?  You can email me your best shots if you want to, they may be chosen to be displayed on a future photo post!  Incidentally, the next post is going to be about lighting (hooray!)  Good luck, I can’t wait to see what you get!  (carrie_butler@msn.com)

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