My favorite thing to do, photographically, is to capture images of kids. I love being around them and my creativity soars when I have one or more of them interact with me about staging ideas. Last week I had an assignment for the Reynolds School District to cover an event at the Troutdale Elementary School. The affair was the dedication of their newly painted solar system. A local Lion’s club member helped the kids paint the solar system in front of the main entrance to their school. He brought T-Shirts with each of the planets written on them and each of the kids got to wear one and stand in front of their respective planet and tell the audience all about their heavenly body.

As you can see, my favorites were the Earth and the Moon. These two girls will no doubt be on ANTM in the not too distant future because whenever they saw me looking their way the just poured on the “smize” and struck up a pose. This image represents the best shot of the day and my favorite of the week.

The day was very overcast and I wanted the visual attention of the finished image to be squarely on the faces of these two girls so, I set my on-camera flash (yes, I still use it when the occasion calls) and set the flash for ½ power, fill only. This way the light coming from the flash would not overpower the overall look of the image, just act as a fill light. Then in Photoshop I turned the image into a B&W and made further adjustments to the red levels to smooth out their skin tones. The result is the perfect rendition of the Earth and her best friend the Moon.

I have been working on a new post processing technique over the past several months and seem be getting closer to what I want for a completed image. It seems to me that this process is a difficult one for portraits, and as of this writing, I really don’t know why. My plan is to learn how to use painting techniques from other artists and continue to preview large bodies of work each week until I can perfect this technique.

This is a portrait of Brynn. I captured this image during an outdoor shoot with her and her mom as we walked the greenway near her home. This shot was taken in the shade during a very sunny day in Portland (we don’t get many of those during the fall). I used a fill in flash to help separate the subject from the background for the finished digital.

When I got back to my studio I loaded it into Photoshop and did my normal tweakings in Camera Raw. Once I was happy with that outcome I began the layer blending process. I ended up with three layers of the original image that I manipulated using the “artist” filter in PS and three layers of textures I brought into the mix for added depth and feeling.  The final image is unique and still captures the character of this amazing little girl.

This week the spotlight is on Paz Ramos, the Principal at Alder Elementary School in Gresham Oregon. Alder has the unique designation of being one of the most impoverished elementary schools in the state of Oregon. When I met Paz my eye was immediately drawn to a pencil sketch he had on his wall. The likeness was uncanny and I asked if the illustration was of him. He said no, but that his daughter had drawn it of a famous basketball star, he didn’t say who. I still think it was his daughters ‘Freudian’ version of her dad, the competitor.

The feeling of healthy competition permeates the halls of this school. Everywhere I went I saw banners and pennants of the various colleges in the region. There was even a map of the U.S. that designated the different locations of each of the teachers at the school, the name of the college they attended and the city where it was located. His goal is that each of his students goes to college. He even has a note pinned on the wall between first and second grade that portrays in proud exclamation the date these students will graduate from their chosen university.

I came away with a new appreciation of long term goal setting. His purpose there seems to be to help each student have the desire to see where a college degree will take them. The only problem I saw with all of this was that there wasn’t a banner from my alma mater, Eastern Oregon University. My goal this week is to make sure that is rectified.

My hat goes off to Paz Ramos, the dedicated teachers and staff at Alder Elementary school for setting the tone of success for our future leaders.

So, I set up my portable lightning equipment and began shooting. Just as I had dialed in the correct light balance, we heard the sound of an oncoming train. He was situated with his back to the train and couldn’t tell how far away it was. I could see a little reticence come over his face, as if to say, “Am I going to be run over, or what?” I just smiled back and said, “Just one more.”  That is when I got this shot, with a perfect balance of light. And you can just make out the headlights of the oncoming train in the distance. Great shoot and what a great young man Brandon is, his mother should be proud.

One of my favorite types of photo session is with small children. I like working with the little ones because they are so unpredictable and I actually get a great deal of exercise trying to keep up with them. While this can be a major motivator to keep me on my photographic toes, as it were, this type of sitting can quickly turn chaotic and frenzied for everyone. When the kids enter this state of pandemonium there is not much I, as the photographer can do. I just look at the mom, or in the case of this week’s photo, the two moms and say with my eyes “HELP!?” Well, in this case I actually said that with my mouth too. Those two little girls were in control of the entire room and they knew it.

The photo session was supposed to go like this. It was right before Christmas and the two moms, sisters, and their husbands, met with their firstborn little girls in the lobby of a large apartment complex where one family lived. Ruth had just turned one and Brynn was 10 months. The two moms and I discussed the shoot and agreed to go with Christmas colors for their dresses. So, the moms went off to adorn their girls with the new outfits and I set about arranging the session area. I set up my portable lighting equipment and performed a few light balance tests and when everything was technically perfect, I called the families down to begin the shoot. As soon as the moms placed their girls on the couch they both began to cry. Now babies cry all the time and sometimes when I capture the correct ‘tear in the eye’ it can be very heart warming, but not these girls. No, their cries were the pained cries of an innocent being tortured in some gruesome way. Their cries pierced the atmosphere and I am sure ever canine within a 30 mile radius perked up to see what could have caused such a sound. So, we separated them, which did little to dissuade their determination. No, they were not going to have their portraits taken and that was final. It was as if they had secretly met in their cribs the night before and made a pact, “no portraits, on pain of death” and swore and oath.

I fancy myself as a fixer of problems and solver of tribulations and I was not about to be outdone by two little girls, no, there was more at stake here. My professional reputation as a children’s photographer and my ‘face’ were up for the taking. I suggested that we move the couch away from the wall, use the curtains a as backdrop and have the kids stand on the couch, facing me. I would then position the two moms behind the couch to entertain and distract as I prepared for the shot. Then, just at the perfect moment I would say “NOW” and the two moms would duck behind the couch and Ruth and Brynn would be left standing in all their glory. How was I to know that one year old little girls can turn faster than my 1/200^th of second actuator? I had no idea they could move that fast. Every time I yelled “NOW” the moms would duck and the two girls would spin around to see what was going on. Granted they had quit crying, and they did seem to be having fun, so, I decided not to fight it any longer. I let the moms continue their behind the couch entertainment and I just shot away.

The families came away from the photo session somewhat amazed over how two such tiny people could end up controlling the actions of so many adults. And I came away with a very unique portrait of two beautiful little girls and the memory of what it was like to be young and filled with so much energy.

Have you ever had a photo session go awry and end up with something you hadn’t planned? Tell me about it.

This week I had the opportunity to photograph Brittany and Chelsea for their senior portrait. As you may have noticed they are twins. Their photo session occurred over a two day period mostly because we live in Portland and the weather changes every six or seven seconds. The studio session was completed during a rather rainy and gloomy day so we all agreed that the outdoor session would be postponed to a setting without all the water and mud. Like that will ever happen in Portland during the winter. As luck would have it just two days later the weatherman warned us that a strange yellow ball in the sky would make its’ appearance. So we decided to take our chances and schedule a shoot for that time. While the rain had subsided the overcast situation made for a rather fun and unique shooting opportunity. I was able to use many of the Strobist techniques I had learned and ended up creating some very dramatic photos.

This one in particular is stunning. As we had finished up the shoot we began walking back toward the cars and I looked up to see a break in the clouds and noticed a nearly full moon up above. I had the girls sit backward on a bench in the park, I laid down, yes in the mud, and had their cousin John hold the remote wireless strobe. The captured photo was phenomenal. Every aspect of the shot seems to be in perfect balance.

Shooting with teen agers can be trying at times, but I have to say these girls were the most polite and well manner young people I had met in years. The shoot was fun, they were perfect models and I came away with hope for our future generation. Well done ladies, and thanks for a great shooting experience.

This week’s photo is one I took of Rachel, a ballerina, who teaches at Spotlight Performing Arts here in Portland. I was lucky enough to be invited by the owner, Sherry to photograph her staff of instructors last weekend.

Every photo session has commonalities one of which is to ‘find’ the essence of the person you are creating the portrait of. Many times I will engage in conversation during the beginning of the shoot to get to know my subject better. When I do that I not only get to know them better but while they talk about themselves they relax and that process produces the perfect look of comfort and confidence. With Rachel it was different. Right from the start she exuded self confidence and every pose was perfect. Once I had the lighting dialed in, I was able to just shoot away. Every expression was spot on. Later that day, I watched her teach her art of ballet and that same deep rooted confidence came through as she taught her young students, grace and beauty in everything she did.

I chose Averie for my photo of the week, mostly because I would rather photograph children than anything else. She also has these wonderfully beautiful, mesmerizing eyes that just looked right through me. It was as though she knew what we were trying to accomplish and enjoyed the attention that her mom and I were showering upon her.

During the beginning of the session she was awake and alert and very responsive to the various poses her mom and I were forcing upon her. No small feat for a two month old. But, later we had an accident and got hungry and, you know stuff happens. After a quick lunch break, for Averie not me, she instantly fell asleep. Her mom kept poking her trying to get her to wake up and smile or something, but nothing seemed to stir her. I just told her to let her sleep and we would make that moment special too. After several pose changes, Averie decided to wake up and check out all the excitement once again. This is when I captured what I consider her best side. What do you think, don’t you just get lost in those eyes? What a beautiful child she is.

All throughout the session he had this “I really don’t want to be here” look on his face. That does not make for great art, let alone a mother who has very specific expectations. So I ran the winder up full speed and just started shooting, hoping something good would come of it all. What I learned was that shooting fast does not make a bit of difference, brilliant deduction – right?  All that resulted was more of the same look on his face, just posed differently. The eyes were still saying the same thing, “Get me outa here before I DIE of boredom.” At one point I even thought of using a hand puppet like do for taking portraits of little children. This works great whey they can’t seem to keep an attention span for more than six seconds. On second thought I realized this was probably not such a great idea.

Then, I just stopped and looked at him for what must have been over a minute. He finally couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “What, I’m doing the best I can.” I said, “I know Matthew, but this isn’t for you it’s for your mother.” That’s when the mood changed and we began to talk about his life and what he was going thru at school and at home. Then the eyes changed and I captured what I believe to be the essence of Matthew. His mom was happy too. All in all, I made a new friend and learned a great lesson; all the techno-gadgets in the world can’t change what’s going on inside. It takes someone who cares and gets involved and is able to tailor the approach to the individual. Thanks Matthew.