Buy a Book and You Could Win a FREE Canon T3i

DPS is giving away a FREE Canon T3i body and lens to some lucky buyer of Click! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids

Yes, you read correctly. Buy a copy of the new and fabulous e-book from Digital Photography School, Click! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids before October 19, 2011, and you will automatically be eligible to win a Canon EOS Rebel T3i body and lens. That is a THOUSAND dollar bundle of creative potential prize.

Let’s Talk About the Book for a Moment.

I have been photographing children for almost 25 years and if I was going to write a book about children’s photography, Click! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids would be that book.

Click! How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids

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How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids

New eBook from Digital Photography School

I LOVE the folks over at DPS. They consistently put out great content about the subject of photography AND they publish AMAZING books.

They just keep partnering with more high quality photographers and bringing all sorts of helpful advice, tips and insights to the market place. Their latest offering, CLICK! How To Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids explores a subject that is near and dear to my heart…children’s photography.

It is the one genre of photography that is the most accessible to the largest number of people and therefore offers the greatest opportunity to do something fun, challenging and rewarding AND get paid for doing it. That looks like a win-win proposition to me. Even if you don’t want to do it for hire, it’s still great for our family photo albums to be fun and distinctive.

How to Take Gorgeous Photos of Your Kids

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On Location Children’s Photography Shoot

Or – Oh be still my beating heart!

OMG!!! I just spent the morning with three of the MOST fantastic children in the UNIVERSE.  Listen people, I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years.  When I say a kid is great….trust me, I DO know the difference.  This is actually my second time playing er…working with this family.  What a joy.  Great parents with the ‘just right’ mix of allowing their children freedom, yet raising good citizens.

JW8141

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My 7 Most Embarrassing Moments In Photography

Or, Uh Oh Say It Ain’t So!

I know I’ve said this a few thousand times, but it really IS true I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was nine years old.  I celebrated my 50th birthday last May (yeah I know, hard to believe huh?) So, I’ve had a few years to rack up some doozies.

Here are some of my favorites.

1. EMBARRASSMENT COMES EARLY

My very first moment of embarrassment came right along with my first camera, which was a gift from my parents on my 9th birthday. It was a Brownie box camera, which you had to open up completely to load with roll film. We’re talking way old school here. In my excitement, I ran next door to share with our neighbors, a married couple with no children of their own at the moment. The husband, who had befriended me, marveled over it, ooh’ing and aah’ing. With a wicked gleam in his eye, he said, “betcha there’s no film in that camera.”  And I’m all “uh huh, there is too film in my camera” and he’s all “nah, couldn’t be” and I’m all “well just look then!”   Quick as a wink, before you could say ‘bad idea’, I ripped open the camera, exposing the film. Of course, I didn’t understand that at the time. I just knew he GASPED, looked SHOCKED, then burst out laughing. I did what any reasonable 9 year old would do and ran home crying. I was mortally embarrassed and vowed to never leave the house again. I still see him almost every time I go home for a visit, and he has NEVER let me live that one down.

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Photographing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

One of the questions most often asked on various photography forums is how to photograph infants and young children well. People are always looking for the best poses, props and so forth. I have been photographing babies and young children for almost 20 years.

The single most effective tool in your arsenal is knowledge.

There is a world of difference between a newborn and a 3 month old.  Quantum leaps in development occur between 3 and 6 months of age.  A 9 month old does not resemble a 3 month old in any way.  And the one-year old is the reigning sovereign of infanthood.[…]

Outdoor Portraiture – Photographing Families in Natural Light

Natural Light Photography – Part 2

Fall is approaching and this might be a good time to talk about how to handle an outdoor family session.  This is a good tutorial for those with a limited amount of equipment.  All you really need is a fairly good camera.  It would also be nice if you have a couple of different, fast lenses at your disposal. Depending on where you live, you might even be able to rent those lenses at a surprisingly low day rate.

Outdoor Portraiture - Photographing Families in Natural Light

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Photographing Young Children with Low-Key Lighting – Tutorial

Tips for Photographing Children – Part 1

There is no doubt that photographing young children can be a challenge, and never more so than when using a low-key lighting setup.  So why bother?  Because the drama and richness inherent in this type of lighting is SO worth it and because it’s unexpected for high energy children’s photography. For the purposes of this post, young and active will be defined as children between the ages of one and four (toddlers).

Photographing children with low key lighting tutorial.

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