Girl on Film
Since unbiased scientific experiments have concluded that I have borne The World’s Cutest Child®, I am keen to become a better photographer and obnoxiously document her every move. My current method is to employ the law of averages by taking about 50 shots in order to get one fairly decent one.
I would like to take a class on photography, but the courses I’ve found so far involve being in a lab multiple nights a week or for several hours on the weekend, which is too much of a time commitment for me right now. It seems counterintuitive to miss several hours of my daughter’s funny faces just so I can learn how to better capture them on film.
So I plod along, trying to somehow improve on my own. I mourn the loss of after-work daylight hours, because I’ve discovered any fool can take a good photo with the right natural light. The light in my apartment is another story. We have terrible sun exposure, and using a flash makes everything look like a bad paparazzi shot. I know it is possible to take a decent photo there, because once a professional photographer came to our house and took some beautiful shots. He was there to take photos for a greeting card line that never took off, and offered to take some portraits of the Canuck and I in exchange for me working my big belly in the generic preggo shot you see at the top right of this page. I don’t know what kind of pretty filter he had on his camera, but I’ve never been able to get a shot even half as lovely and natural as his were.
Although digital cameras are a godsend for bad shots like me, one thing they don’t do well is take the photo the exact second you press the button. Instead, they take a few moments, mull it over, and then decide in their own sweet time to capture whatever they feel like. It can be the difference between a baby book-worthy shot and one of your child looking stoned.
Add to that challenge the tornado of movement that is a 20-month-old child. I’ve ended up with a lot of blurry shots of Muffin in motion -- and the weird thing is that I actually kind of like some of them. I don’t know if I am just deluding myself into thinking I am arty, but they seem to capture something authentic about life with her. Muffin never ever stops, except to sleep, and the photos tell that story.
Here, I present to you some of my favorite mistakes:
Ps. If anyone who has actually read the camera manual has any advice on how to take better photos, I welcome your input!
I would like to take a class on photography, but the courses I’ve found so far involve being in a lab multiple nights a week or for several hours on the weekend, which is too much of a time commitment for me right now. It seems counterintuitive to miss several hours of my daughter’s funny faces just so I can learn how to better capture them on film.
So I plod along, trying to somehow improve on my own. I mourn the loss of after-work daylight hours, because I’ve discovered any fool can take a good photo with the right natural light. The light in my apartment is another story. We have terrible sun exposure, and using a flash makes everything look like a bad paparazzi shot. I know it is possible to take a decent photo there, because once a professional photographer came to our house and took some beautiful shots. He was there to take photos for a greeting card line that never took off, and offered to take some portraits of the Canuck and I in exchange for me working my big belly in the generic preggo shot you see at the top right of this page. I don’t know what kind of pretty filter he had on his camera, but I’ve never been able to get a shot even half as lovely and natural as his were.
Although digital cameras are a godsend for bad shots like me, one thing they don’t do well is take the photo the exact second you press the button. Instead, they take a few moments, mull it over, and then decide in their own sweet time to capture whatever they feel like. It can be the difference between a baby book-worthy shot and one of your child looking stoned.
Add to that challenge the tornado of movement that is a 20-month-old child. I’ve ended up with a lot of blurry shots of Muffin in motion -- and the weird thing is that I actually kind of like some of them. I don’t know if I am just deluding myself into thinking I am arty, but they seem to capture something authentic about life with her. Muffin never ever stops, except to sleep, and the photos tell that story.
Here, I present to you some of my favorite mistakes:
Ps. If anyone who has actually read the camera manual has any advice on how to take better photos, I welcome your input!
posted by Muffin's Mom at 2:23 PM
4 Comments:
S - I actually went through just this topic less than 30 minutes ago trying to get the proverbial "picture postcard" -- literally. We're that late on our Christmas cards. We shot some stuff of Bubba in front of the tree of her in her nice dress after coming home from a church Christmas party, and we'll get some more of her in another Christmas outfit tomorrow at my department holiday party. Then it's off to Sam's with memory card in hand to pick the best one...
You're not deluding yourself -- the blurry ones can be artsy, in a photo journalistic sort of way. What could more accurately depict Muffin's energy than blurry photos! And you shouldn't feel bad about your technique -- even good professional photographers take advantage of the law of averages. Besides lighting, the real art of photography is in framing your picture and playing with perspective. That's something for which you already have an eye! Keep snapping away and sharing the results!
I think your favorite mistakes are pretty perfect! Love, AJ
i think all these pictures look really dreamy and artsy! i love them!!! and they're your rejects?! missy, you underestimate your abilities. OTP
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