March Newsletter 2011 Issue 2 Volume 1
THE ART OF PORTRAITURE will start with “ you say your name is Joey . I think I ’ ll by Sam Moffa call you Danny .” The ice is broken . The children are so fascinated they never have time to wiggle out of
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF position . If they ask me where do you keep your toys ?” I respond : “ upstairs in the basement ”.
PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN Get away from the word “ no .” Replace it with “ okay .” Don ’ t talk about taking photographs . Talk about playing and toys instead .
You should always find out what kind of work the father does , so you can set up props like fireman ’ s hat , hunter with plastic rifle etc .
I could go on and on but this should help on photographing children . One more point ; sometimes you have to tell the parents to sit outside of the camera room , they will say “ smile ” to the child or laugh harder than the child drawing their attention , while you are trying to have the child look at the camera . _____________________________________ March ’ s Topic for the print competition is : A C T I O N !!! – How to show action or motion in a still photograph . Do you stop the action or let it blur ? If you feel the need to use PhotoShop to simulate motion , let the judges know . Also – first quarterly contest – Head and shoulder portraits .
Photographing children , the first thing to remember is to photograph them at their level . You can work at floor level , but it is much harder . I use a platform , 3 feet x 5 feet by roughly 2 feet high . This serves two purposes , shooting at their level and hiding the background lite for even light projected on the background .
So the mother ( in most cases ) has told the child that he / she has to smile for the photographer , Guess what – that child ( most of the time ) is not going to even look up or smile ! What I normally do is to use my own Reverse psychology and I will tell the child “ don ’ t smile ”, maybe show a toy or throw a ball , most of the time this breaks the ice .
I explain to the mother that a two year old will do better in a three – quarter pose . I advise to save the full length standing poses until the child is at least four , because they will understand better . But if a full length is what the mother wants , the younger child will not stay in the middle of the platform . To keep the child in the middle I will use a small flat object or a penny and tell the child “ don ’ t put your foot on the penny ,” most of the time this works .
Besides all kind of props , one of my favorites is a plastic ball . I can give it to the child to throw back , pop the ball with my thumb , attempt to give the ball to the child and suddenly pop the ball and make the ball disappear -‐ always getting a smile . I
Focal Point at the Hammonton Arts Center
219 Bellevue Avenue Hammonton , NJ 08037
UPCOMING CLASSES
These particular classes may be of some interest to Focal Point members :
Digital Photography for Beginners – Taught by Sam Moffa ( 609 ) 864-6490 this popular class is a must for the beginning digital photographer . 6 weeks .