5.25.2009

bright as yellow {by the innocence mission} + a bunch of pics of my friend's little darlings

some lyrics to a favorite song
by a favorite group
to go with a favorite picture

and you live your life with
your arms stretched out.
eye to eye when speaking.
enter rooms with great joy shouts,
happy to be meeting.
and bright,
bright,
bright as yellow,
warm as yellow.

and i do not want to be a rose.
i do not wish to be pale pink,
but flower scarlet, flower gold.
and have no thorns to distance me,

but be bright,
bright,
bright as yellow,
warm as yellow.

even if i'm shouting, even if i'm shouting here inside.
even if i'm shouting, do you see that i'm wanting,
that i want to be so
bright,
bright,
bright as yellow,
warm as yellow.

~ ~ ~

warning: this is another long post {but this time it's many pictures instead of many words}

a good friend that i recently connected with on facebook—{she found me, and i'm so glad she did}—was kind enough to let me meet up with her and her two daughters at the park to let me practice taking photos of kids—something i would like to get better at.

they had no problem with me taking their pictures. i think they quite enjoyed it, actually. i thought i would have to really work on them to get them to come out of their shell and be natural around the camera. but they were ready and willing and had a blast just being themselves at the lovely nature preserve that i like to go to. we had so much fun!









































aren't they sweet? they are very photogenic, no?

i'm happy with the composition and how i captured them smiling or in action. but i was disappointed by the lighting in many of the shots. several of them were in the shadows. this is something i will pay more attention to next time. practice, practice practice.

we started taking pictures at 4:30 p.m. a few hours before sundown. have you any tips for me—on when and how to get good lighting for outdoor people shots?

thank you, julie, for giving me the opportunity to practice. i hope you like your photos! i'll send you any that you like. for everyone else, i'm sorry there are so many. i just wanted to get them all posted for julie so that she can choose whichever she likes.

10 comments:

GailO said...

Children are The hardest thing to photograph I think..yet you did a spectacular job...They are wonderful models and look like they were really enjoying themselves...I don't think the lighting was bad at all to tell you the truth...I have read that it is often better to photograph on overcast days but I find there isn't always a choice ...

Sara said...

Beautiful girls! They remind me of my sister and I when we were kids (before my other sister and brother were born) it was just the two of us, I don't remember being without her.

margie said...

you know georgia, yesterday i talked about how much i like taking macro shots, and shots of children. i think i may be finally finding my groove. these are good. lighting is a challenge outdoors for sure. read the exposure book kath recommended.

beth said...

wow....number 13... up from the bottom... is my favorite...it's just wonderful !!

I love the wind in her hair and that look is angelic !

the only advice I can give, which might work or not, as most often I feel like so much of what I do is just pure luck...is to use your flash even when there is plenty of day light and you're shooting faces...in most cases it will offset shadowing.

I have read about this and have tried it myself and then it was confirmed to me this weekend when we watched professionals shooting wedding pictures on the lake this weekend...both of them had their flashes on and it was about 5 in the afternoon with tons of sun still shining !

and isn't it a blast to shoot kids ?

Chris said...

These are incredible. And I agree, the lighting looks good. I guess you can only work with what you have, turn on the flash, and turn the situation to your advantage.

spread your wings said...

I think you have many beautiful portraits here that really capture the spirit of young girls and their friendship. wonderful job. such pretty young girls with such life and such exuberance.
the lighting is something I was disappointed in on my shots from Sunday. I think T may have used the flash (she has an extended flash unit) on some that she took of me but I didn't for the ones I took of her and it shows.

Anonymous said...

Thank you miss G:)
They are beautiful pictures I love them all.
You made me smile yet again.
When ever you are ready to go again let us know. They had fun. And were very tired that night.
Thank you.
ox
Have fun in Tenn.
J:)

Jamie said...

There are some cute shots in here Miss G. Great expressions and nice compostion. My advice to you is to get the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It's a really easy book to follow and it helped me out immensely. You're on the right track by shooting later (or early) in the day. And, I totally disagee with the flash comments. Once you understand exposure and light metering you won't need a flash 95% of the time. I never use a flash unless I'm inside in a dark room.

ELK said...

no advice but wow you really got some that these girls and their mom will cherish~

Char said...

I think Jamie said it best - understand the sources of light and where it's coming from. Strong sun is going to cask shadow on faces. In those cases you can go total open shade and lighten the faces. Also, reflectors help (white poster board is cheap) to bounce light back onto the faces. I think you did wonderfully for never have done this before.