Mother/Daughter Portraits

I'm so excited to share a few of my favorite portraits from the Mother/Daughter Weekend.  Each set of ladies (mother with her daughter/s) had only about two or three minutes with me, so it was a challenge to get at least a decent shot.  I just needed to make sure eyes were open and there were nice smiles, and I was done.  This is not my favorite photography to do, but as part of a whole weekend of shooting, it was a lot of fun to sandwich all those mini photo sessions in to all the other event photography I was doing.

Below are some of my favorite portrait images--formal (to get the shot) and candid (either while having fun or to capture a different pose).

Marielle (below) and her daughter gave me the (great!) idea of posing twosomes back to back.  It worked great in several shots--thanks, Marielle!

A few moms asked if I could take their daughters' pictures.  Of course!  Here is a cutie.

If I had a little extra time, I sometimes moved the ladies around for a different pose.  The below shot is adorable.

I took several of this family, and loved how the below turned out with the little one resting her head on mom's leg.

This mom wanted a shot with her daughter, but the daughter wasn't enthusiastic about it.  I caught a series of them goofing off--the look on the daughter's face is great as her mom tries to pose with her, then gives her a kiss.

My favorite back-to-back image!

I love the below shot.  There's nothing like a newborn to elicit awe (and aww!).  So precious!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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A Challenge

I'm usually up for a challenge.  When it comes to photography, I definitely like a challenge!  And when it comes to photography and someone who does not want his picture taken, I take it as a personal challenge.  It is no longer about photography, but about getting the reaction I want.  Then I can take the picture.

Such was the case this past February at the Mother/Daughter Encouragement Weekend.  I set up my portrait studio in the church's library, and had a great time snapping images of mothers and their daughters throughout the weekend.  Then one family walked in to have their portrait taken--one mom, along with her five daughters.  It took just one look--that littlest one (I'm guessing around three years old) did not want to be there.  There was no way I was going to get her picture.  If I remember correctly, her arms were crossed and she was determined.

I had only minutes with this family, since I had moms coming in with their daughters all throughout the conference.  This was not my typical hour-long photo shoot.  Two minutes, one family picture, done.  I had to work fast.

So, I played Guess Your Name.  Jackpot!  She thought that was pretty funny, and I had her laughing in no time with all the girl names I was thinking up.  Once she was laughing, I quickly got the ladies arranged around their mom, and snapped away.  I got a decent shot, and you can see Haley, in the black dress with red bow, laughing as I snapped this shot.

Whew!  As I started chatting with the mom, Katie (to Haley's right) climbed up on the stool where her mom had been sitting.  She dangled her legs and was having a great time.  Haley thought that that'd be pretty fun, too, so she climbed right on up next to her sister.  Their mom and I noticed, of course, and tried to pose them.  Haley didn't like that, but once her mom got her situated next to her sister, I got her laughing again.  Thank goodness my camera still had all the right settings and was sitting there, waiting!

Mom suggested, "Haley, kiss your sister!"  I guess Haley settled into her good mood at that point, because she turned on the stool and gave her sister a great big hug.  Another opportunity!

Katie was so cute as she just sat there and "took it" from her sister.  And then the moment:

Three awesome shots.  Those were the hardest shots I'd worked for in a long time, and the best images from the entire weekend.  Thanks for playing with me, Haley!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 52 -- True Love

I'm linking up with Darcy for Project 52.

Click her Project 52 button above to see what it's all about!

This week's challenge:  True Love


My photo:

My thoughts:

I'm posting this super late due to my travels, though I took this photo within the Project 52 time frame guidelines.  :)

I flew to Georgia to shoot a two-day mother/daughter event last week, but mostly I flew out to visit my sister, whose family hosts the event.  We believe in the work they're doing through SECHDF (check out their website and their blog) for homeschooling families in the southeastern U.S., and want to support them in whatever way we can.  So, I save my pennies and fly out each year to help out in whatever way I can.  This year, I had the privilege of shooting two days' worth of candid images, and "formal" mother/daughter(s) portraits, which become 5x7s for each family.  Isn't that a neat gift for the attendees?


The setup:

I set up my "studio" in the library of the church where the event took place.  There was a window on the north wall, and this provided me with some good natural light.  I didn't have to use my flash (I'd rather do whatever it takes to shoot natural light before settling on flash).  Yay!  One mom and her five daughters (!) came in to have their portrait done.  The littlest girl--I'll call her Miss H--did not want to be there.  You should've seen the frown on her face.  She didn't know me, however; I love little children.  And I like a challenge.

They all took off their name tags, and I went to work charming a little three-year-old girl into smiling.  We played the I'm-going-to-try-to-guess-your-name game, with great success.  She finally sat with the rest of her family and I got a good picture:

Upon surviving her ordeal, Miss H decided I was pretty fun, and she set about climbing up onto the portrait stool and goofing off.  The next oldest sister also climbed on up, and they proceeded to goof off together.  I reset my camera settings and shot away, and got an adorable shot of them back to back.  Then, Miss H turned and gave her sister a hug (another totally adorable shot), and then, wouldn't you guess it--a kiss!  They were so sweet together, and I could tell that they have already shared lots of love in their short-so-far lives.  Although the theme True Love primarily evokes my relationship with my husband, and my relationship with my Jesus, these two little girls embodied True Love for me last week.


Camera settings:

• ISO 640
• Manual mode
• 50mm portrait lens
• Aperture at f6.3
• 1/60 second shutter speed

(Thanks for letting me share late!)

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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