Works for me Wednesday!!

                

Well, last week Carol suggested I give a few tips for Photographing your children. I am a Children's photographer so, I'm going to give you some ideas of what works for me in my studio (as well as at home with all the little ones).

!. Get on the child's level. Seeing them and their environment on their level will open a whole new world for you.

2. I love to break that rule as well!! I love to get a very high angle,with a close shot of their face (profile).

3. I want the most natural expressions from children, so I NEVER  tell anyone to "say cheese". N.E.V.E.R.

4. Close in on the little things : mouth,eyes,ears,hands,feet, the swirl of the crown of the head etc.

5. Now to some "after the image is taken -words of wisdom"- VERY IMPORTANT.
upload your images to your computer ASAP. That means NOW people.

6. Now that you've done that - Download them to a disk. NOW. I download to 2 disks immediately. Then I edit and put  the forever shots all on a DVD later. P.S. They are all forever shots to me!! ;D

7. NOW - store said disks in a safe place. It is best to have a set in two different places. Just.in.case!

The reason behind placing the final images on a DVD is that the cd's are just not good enough yet. They may not still have your images on them a year from
now!!!!

Yeah, I know - THAT was worth the price of admission!! ;D

Go go go go! Buy some good DVD's right now!!

Go over to Shannon's blog for more clever tips!!!

Comments

[Nettie]

I didn't know there was any difference. ALL my photos are on CD. I'll have to fix that. Thank you for saving them!

[Kim]

I just sat here and realized that almost all my digital pictures are still sitting here on my Dell. They are neatly catagorized into folders, but I've had enough computer crises to know that I am just one computer crash away from losing them all.

I better get busy, eh?

Thanks for the work, I mean suggestion, Faith. hehehe

[Neighbor Jane]

Thanks so much for sharing your professional wisdom with us! I really appreciate the tips.

[cheeriobutt]

Thanks for the tips. I am doing some shots this weekend that are special and "kind of" professional style. I had one question: why wouldn't the images still be on my CD's a year from now? Do they get faded or am I dense and missing something here? I have tons on C.D's so I am freaking out. But I would love to burn them to a DVD! That is a good idea! A slideshow scrapbook! Which is a new adventure I am starting on as well (scrapbooking) Anyways, love the advice especially since I am a wannabe photographer! :)

[Sandra]

Oh Lordy Faith, I'm so glad you posted this. I have been saving all mine to CD. Will have to transfer everything to DVD.

I LOVE your tips for taking photos of the kids, I am always ready with the camera but find that at times I have no idea how to get the right shot, or I tell them to sit still and they get antsy and that makes me annoyed LOL

Thank you so much for sharing :)

[Tess]

those were some great tips. I'm not even to the level of budding photographer, I just like to take pictures :) so I will definitely use these.

[Faith]

Cheeriobutt ( I LOL when I type that), the cd's are just not up to par yet. I have had cd's "lose" the images alot at the studio. Not all of them of course and we make 4 per client,per session - so I'm always covered. We then make Dvd's after a few sessions. At home, I have all of my images on cd's first, then when I get a good quantity, I transfer them to DVD's. Mine are archival, lasting over 100 years -but they cost mucho bucks. I would just get the highest quality DVD if I were you!

[Heather]

I agree totally! CD's are totally unreliable. Especially the rewritable ones! Thanks for the advice! I took some pics of my niece and nephews feet just last Sunday. They are just so cute!

[Traci]

I'm burning my to DVD as soon as I get home. I had no idea about the cd's!

[chilihead]

I consider myself pretty tech-savvy and I did not know that! Thanks for the heads up! One more project for the list...

[Sherri]

Great tips!! I find that I get better pictures of my daughter than my inlaws because I spend time looking through the lense before snapping and then I snap when I catch something I like...something that captures part of her:)

[Tiff]

Now that IS a great idea!!! I need to do that with my pics from now on!

[mimi2six]

Hi, I'm Shannon's mom, and I have a good photo idea to share. Right after Christmas we had family photos taken at a profess. studio. My husband and I wanted in a picture with all 6 of our grandchildren. The kids are all 8 and under, so it was going to be impossible to get "natural" looking smiles. We suggested the photographer tell the kids to "pile on Pop and Mimi".....they did....with adorable, natural facial expressions and smiles/laughs that captured each personality. It's my favorite picture I've ever had....a real treasure. And it doesn't look posed!

[Gibee]

Love the tips... love, love, lovet them!

[Gibee]

Love the tips... love, love, love them!

[Gabriela]

Thanks for the DVD info. Did not know that.

[Lauren]

Yes Faith, thank you for the info and tips on taking photos of kids. I need all the help I can get.

[Shannon from Rocks in my Dryer]

I had NO idea about the CDs. So glad you told me.

[kate]

We save them on dvd too. I am so crazy about my pictures. I store my dvd's (of digital pictures) and negatives (from my film camera) by months in 12 of those big letter size envelopes as well and have a seperate fire proof safe just for those. I may not be able to run back in a burning house to save my pictures but I sure hope the safe can save the negatives!

[Jules @ Everyday Mommy]

Thanks for the awesome tip. Wow. I'm getting DVD's this weekend.

Also, check out http://www.iastudios.com/new/home.htm
for some FABULOUS children's portraiture.

[Carol]

I have a question about CD/DVD storage. Do you think the technology will still be available to read the DVD's 100 years from now? Or even 50? I mean, DVD technology wasn't even available to us 10 years ago. 13 years ago I was the only person I knew who had a computer at home. I just wonder what will be available for us to access these things and for how long?

[Carol]

P.S. The picture-taking tips rock! More, more!!!! (like what kind of slr film? what kind of lighting? what color clothing for what color kids? etc.) [grin]

[kelly jeanie]

Thanks for the great tips. I love that little swirl on the top of my son's head. :)

[Faith]

Carol, No I don't think DVD's will be the storage of choice very many years from now - however, if you have a cd or whatever, with no info on it - you have nothing to transfer to the new medium. Take care to save what you have, so you can upgrade when the time comes.