Beyond Snapshots - Photo Story

7/30/2019 Beyond Snapshots - Photo Story

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things simple. Push that laundry basket out of

the frame, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Close doors, open curtains, shove things under

the bed. If something does not add an important

narrative element to the photograph, remove it.

Make sure your camera battery is charged and

you have a few large-capacity memory cards

freshly formatted, then put the camera right by

your bed. When you get up in the morning, you

can reach for the camera before you even have

your feet in your slippers. That is the way to get

true portraits.

Family life does not have to be shot all in

one day, but you can find something to shootevery day.

LIFE AS IT ISWhen you prepare to take a portrait, you plan

ahead and set up the location. There is time to

decide on outfits and props; people even have

time to brush their hair. When you document

family life, on the other hand, you work with

the environment and let the portraits unfold as

you shoot. With this photojournalistic approach,

let the family bed, the spaghetti sauce, and the

bubble bath all become elements of your visual

story. You want the people you love in their most

comfortable daily moments: brushing their teeth,

playing with the dog. This is about as far from

those posed formal portraits as you can get.

Restrain the urge to direct the shots toomuch.Thats not to say that you dont have any

control over the scene, however, so try and keep

PA morning pileup is a great way to

get a few more minutes in bed before the

day begins. Shooting from above on a

bed often means the ISO has to be

pushed high, but the grain is worth it for

moments like these.

Canon 5D with Canon 2470mm F2.8 L

lens at 24mm|ISO 1250|f/3.2 for 1/250sec.

Keep it real with natural light

While you are shooting, try not to intrude

on the moments with a flash. Instead, use

your cameras higher ISO settings and maxi-

mum aperture on your lens to take advan-

tage of the existing light.


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Life As It Is

PHOTOGRAPHIC INSPIRATION

If documentary photography begins to feel

overwhelming, turn to others for inspiration.

We have long lists of photographers whose work

gets us excited and thinking about capturing

images in a new way. Here are some of our

favorites. Spend time with these amazing

artists, and youll come back to your camera

with renewed enthusiasm. We always do.

Sally Mann(www.sallymann.com) is the

preeminent photographer in the art of

documenting family life. Her series featured

in the collectionImmediate Familyis a raw

and often controversial recording of her three

children growing up in rural Virginia. After

her children became more aware of the camera

and less willing to be photographed, her work

moved on and grew to include ghostly scenes

of civil war battlefields and an exploration

of what remains after death. The images are

mesmerizing for something that sounds so

grim in words.

Mary Ellen Mark(www.maryellenmark.com)

is a documentary portrait artist. Her photo

essays on subjects ranging from film sets to

rock-and-roll bands, homeless families, Indian

circus troops, and disabled children in special

schools in Iceland are some of the most iconic

of the last century. She treats each and every

person in front of her lens with the same skill

and respect. Her images are haunting and

strong in their simplicity. She is a true master

of photography.

Stephanie Rausser(http://stephanierausser.

com) is an editorial and commercial

photographer who has a special place in both

of our inspiration pools. Her images are full

of quirk and charm and tell such wonderful

stories. We also love the natural way she injects

color into her photographs. It is always just the

perfect touch, nothing very processed, relying

on the content to make the image great.

Julie Blackmon(http://julieblackmon.com/)

is a fine art photographer who has two very

distinct sets of work.Domestic Vacationsis

series of color photographic collages that depict

suburban life in a beautiful and quirky way,

with dark undertones running though many

of the images.Mind Gamesis a beautifully

executed series of black-and-white images

that chronicle children at play. All of her work

harnesses talents for beautiful compositions and

storytelling.

The photographs of Tara Whitney(http://

tarawhitney.com) are real, fun, quirky, full of

love and passion, and a huge inspiration to us.

Tara is a family photographer who gets it.

She has an amazing eye for capturing what

could be seen as ordinary moments in the most

captivating ways. She makes imperfections

perfect and turns conventions on their head,

which may just be the perfect place for them.


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Spend a day in the life of your family and capture the story.You will never get those moments back, but with your images, they will never be fully gone. We

photographed a typical weekend day in the life of our friends, from morning cuddles to bedtime stories.

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Beyond Snapshots - Photo Story

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