Let ‘Em Play!
Submitted by My Viewfinder Blog
A long time ago, I worked in a department store portrait studio run by a large, national chain. I was taught, and required to shoot in a very structured posing and compositional style. The disciplined approach was actually helpful at first as I was learning portraiture, but I later found it very limiting, and portrait photography became less of an art and more of a production line process. In other words, it got boring both for me and the customer.
This disciplined approach to posing even applied to very young children. I had to make them sit a certain way, fold their legs like this, place their hands this way, etc. It usually didn’t take too long before I had a cross and aggravated child. Unhappy children don’t smile, and smiles are what most parents want to see in their children’s portraits.
Those days are long gone now, and today when I photograph very young children I don’t do a lot of posing. I basically let them do what children like to do most: play! I get down on the ground, at their level, and tease and cajole them into playing. They soon forget that we’re doing anything serious, or that maybe I’m a stranger. They’re having fun, and the desired expressions come naturally. Real smiles, not the “say cheese” kind. I think sometimes it makes the parents a little uneasy because it looks like I’m just blasting away some snapshots of their child playing. However, when the prints come back, they usually find that the little bald guy with the beard knew a little something about what he was doing. Because I’ve taken the time to learn about things like lighting, framing, and composition (and sometimes with a little help from the crew at Adobe), the photos look like portraits, not their snapshots. And all we did was play!
This is a photo I did recently of Lana, the daughter of some friends from church. (Click on photo to enlarge.) We were playing peek-a-boo when I caught her peeking. Click! Gotcha! You see, all ya gotta do is let ‘em play!
A couple of other portrait notes: Most people pictures can be improved immensely just by remembering two things. 1) Frame tight. Cut out as much distracting background clutter as possible. 2) Lighting: think open shade. This photo was taken on a brilliant Fall afternoon. We got out of the bright, contrasty sunlight, and under the shade of a covered porch. No squinting, and look at the way that soft light models her facial features. One more thing. Although in this photo Lana’s mouth is mostly covered by her hands, is their any doubt she’s enjoying herself? You can see it in her eyes - this is a happy little girl. Anyone can fake a grin, but it’s the eyes that always tell the real story.
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