Posed Candids

All of the pictures on today's blog are "posed candids". I just didn't want them to look posed! I have little tricks I use when I want to get a picture of something I just missed or something I think would make a cute shot. I don't mention a picture at all! For the photo above, I said to the kids, "Everyone is supposed to be sitting on the bench unless it's your turn to bat." This made them sit and hold still! For the photo below, I probably said, "Let's count those eggs again."

I think it's good to have a mental goal in mind when you are going into a situation where you plan to take pictures. If you know some pictures that you want to capture, you will be looking for them. I like to get spontaneous pictures, but this can be very hard to do. Just remember, if you are careful with your posed shots, you can make them look like really great candid photos. It just takes some time and thought.

Think along the lines of the person you are photographing. Sometimes it works to say, "Ignore me." or "Don't look at the camera." Sometimes I pretend that I am looking at and reviewing a picture I just took, or I'm messing with the camera, when in actuality, I'm looking at the screen watching for a great shot. The one thing I don't recommend is lying to your kids. They will catch on, and besides it justs sets a bad pattern. Bribing can be used on occasion. (I'll give you candy if you smile nicely for this picture!) But again, it sets you up in starting a bad pattern so that your kids may always need bribed just in order to behave for photos.

Ask questions about an object they are holding if you want them to be focused on it for the picture. Ask them about something that is behind you/beside you/ etc. (Did Uncle Mike get here yet?) if you want them to be looking somewhere else.

People think that their subjects need to be looking right at the camera for pictures to be good. But that isn't true. If they look like they don't even know their picture is being taken, then you have captured life happening! Isn't that what photography is all about?

Scrap Happy!