I finally got the kids into the Studio* in the last couple of weeks. The girls wanted to get some Dance photos after all the work they’ve put in over the last year (and who can resist taking photographs of dancers – especially when they’re your own kids). The Boy therefore also needed a session of his own, so he came in and threw some shapes for me.
I also got them to sit for some more traditional portraits while there were here. They are still very good for me in front of the camera but the problem tends to be that I know them too well: the smile isn’t that smile or if it is I know there’s another one I love in them just as much.
So I did a little more directing than I’d normally expect to do in a portrait shoot. Just to see how they would take more artistic direction and what reactions we could enduce for the camera.
We might have a handful of actors on on our hands!
In my daily Family Portrait business I deal with smiles. Really, that’s what people pay for. Even in the Commercial Photography arena we’re looking for that ‘Confident Business Smile’ which invokes a reaction of trust and confidence that a business person will look after you comewhatmay.
But in reality there is a whole world of human emotion that photography can capture – all valid, all compelling.
And sometimes people have a way of looking at you that cuts in to you…
*More on the ‘Studio’ later…