Collection of Grace's Fall Photo Shoot + Description

Over Thanksgiving Break, I asked some family friends if I could do a photography shoot of their foster baby, Grace. Grace is 6 months old, and in general a happy and content baby. Her sister Ali helped me by playing with Grace while I took the photos. First I chose her outfit. She wore a long sleeve pink shirt, with flowered overalls, a corduroy vest, and a salmon pink hat. My main focus was her facial expression. the angles, and the contrast of colors. I was not able to take as many of the different shots as I had liked due to her short attention span and the chilly weather. We spent about half an hour at a park downtown.


Although the photos may seem quite similar it adds to the dynamic of the collection. Each photo was carefully edited and chosen. I also paid close attention to composition. I find photography of people more difficult than still objects, scenery, and nature, but a variety is important. I think that babies are easier to photograph than older children and adults. 


I had not done much research on Anne Geddes, but I read some tips on taking photos of babies. The lighting was slightly overcast, which was nice because it was bright enough but the sun wasn’t glaring. The following post has a collection of the photographs. I spent time editing them, cropping, adjusting colors, and tones. While taking them some of the scenes included Grace sitting, being held, crawling, laying on her stomach, playing with, and eating leaves. In one of them the effect of falling leaves is present. 


The family really liked the photos and had a photo scrapbook printed. I enjoyed taking pictures of Grace and the following posts have more photos, that are specifically grouped in type. I have gone into more detail on those posts. I also wrote a biography about the famous photographer Anne Geddes and selected three samples of her photos and a description on her techniques. 

Playing in the Leaves...

Piles of Leaves...

Falling Leaves...

Eating Leaves...

Laying in the Leaves...

Anne Geddes Report + 3 photos

Anne Geddes is a photographer, clothing designer, and businesswoman. She was born in Queensland, Australia, in 1956. She was a true country kid, and growing up she was an avid reader of National Geographic and Life, because of the strength and quality of their photographs. When she was 17 she took a job with a chain of tourist hotels in New Zealand, taking pictures of her day to day adventures. When she was 22, she opened a small clothing store, but was then hired as a secretary at a local television station in Brisbane, Australia. In 1983, she married Kel Geddes the station’s programming director. In 1984, their daughter Gemma was born. In 1988, a picture of her in a tutu became her first published photograph. Anne decided to specialize in children’s portraiture, working out of her own tiny studio. 

In 1990, she took one day a month to create images purely for herself. An outcome of this was her most recognized photographs of “Cabbage Kids”. In 1992, Kel left his career and became Anne’s business partner. She was became professionally recognized, and published a calendar.

Geddes believes that “emotional content is an image’s most important element”. She thinks people are drawn to her work because of its simplicity and personality. She prefers black and white photography to color photography. She says that a typical sitting takes place in the morning when the babies are well rested and lasts about half an hour. Geddes travels to the United States every year in search of black infants because New Zealand has a very small black population. 

In 1993, Anne and Kel took a leap of faith to publish her second calendar. They made over 40,000 copies. In 1996, Geddes published Down in the Garden. This is just one of her many published books. She has received many awards. In 2009, the Professional Photographers of American Honored Anne with it’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. She is an advocate for child abuse and neglect, as well has the health and wellbeing of both mother and child. Her images have been published in 83 countries. 

According to Anne Geddes, the "delicate, fragile, and yet fleeting beauty of flowers is so connected to the newborn. The synergy between the two is perfect." Geddes used to develop her pictures in a darkroom. However she now embraces technology to magnify her creativity. She works with photoshop experts, her role is to relay her visions to technical computer artists. For her baby portraits she uses a medium format digital camera that produce 110MB of image files. She prefers LED lighting rather than conventional heat radiating light. Her advise in making original pictures is to "shoot from the heart."

She gives the following tips:
from http://www.babycenter.com/0_20-tips-from-anne-geddes-for-taking-great-photos_10338944.bc

Do your own thing
Please don't try to replicate any of my images. They are created after hours of preparation and under careful controls in my studio, where I am supported by a team of talented professionals.

Be prepared
Keep your camera at the ready at all times. The more familiar your baby is with a camera, the more natural your photographs will be because your baby's curiosity won't be aroused by the camera. And with a camera at hand, you'll always be ready for those special spontaneous moments.

Consider the background
Keep your background simple to let your baby take "center stage" in the image.

Change your perspective
For a more personal point of view, get down to your baby's eye level.

Get ready
Ensure that your baby is safe, well fed, happy, and comfortable and you can be guaranteed some lovely images.

Time it well
Choose the time of day when your baby is happiest. Every baby is different.

Let there be light
I love using natural light. It is always more flattering to use the soft directional light coming in a window than the flash on a camera.

Go early or late
If you are photographing outside, try to take advantage of the early morning or late afternoon light. The mid-day sun doesn't bring out the best in anyone, and it can be especially harsh on your baby's perfect skin!

Grace Series #1 and Summary Descriptions

These three photos where the family’s favorite. I altered the color to “antique”. Somehow the cropping didn’t turn out exactly how I would have liked. In the first two I wish that both her hands were in the photo. However, this was not possible because I had to crop out the person who was helping her stand up. In the third photo, I wish that less of her hat was cropped. The backgrounds of these are especially helpful because they are simple, and blurred. It adds to the fall effect of the photo shoot. 

These are a series of fall leaves shots, Grace was entertained by the leaves. All of the photos are mostly based on her facial expressions. In the first photo she is so intrigued. The first two pictures are taken at a low angle, to capture the crisp red and brown leaves. The third is taken from above, Her overalls match the leaves almost perfectly! The white blanket adds a contrast, but I think that it would have been a better shot without it. It would have been more of a representation of Gedde’s work. 

Grace Series #2 and Summary Descriptions

These were my favorite shots in black and white. They are a series, and particularly portray her expressions. In the first one she is weighted towards the left. and in the second two, more towards the middle. She is not looking at the camera in any of them. I wish the background was purely leaves, but I was not able to capture that angle. I especially like how her eyelashes are prominent in the last photo. The color was changed to black and white, and then the contrast deepened. Unfortunately the cropping in the second cut out her right hand. 

These are my favorite shots in Sepia. The first photo is Grace and her sister Ali, there is a vignette effect and it is cropped to highlight their faces. The second is taken at her level, and her expression is adorable! The setting is not as prominent, and it would have been a better shot without the blanket.The third is a busy photo, but the contrast is nice. She is not looking at the camera, but instead sticking her tongue and concentrating on the leaf in her hand. I had be way below her to capture this shot.   

“Photographing Friends and Family”

In the Kodak Library of Creative Photography, there is an edition regarding Photographing Friends and Family. This is not something I have done a lot of, and I decided to research some techniques. Pictures of people are said to have direct emotional impact, and the impression of having been snatched from life.

People at their best

Everything counts in photos of people; you must take into consideration hair, clothes, the way they are sitting or standing, and the entire setting. You must relax the subject; everyone seems to get camera shyness at some point. One of the best ways of putting people at ease is to divert their attention from the camera. Giving them something to do will help.

Composing the picture

Pay attention to where the edges of the frame cross the figure. If you include too much, the crop may appear to be an error. The best crops are likely to be at the waist, the hips, or above the knees. Cropping the picture can convey a sense of of dynamism even in an image that is relatively static. 

Ways of looking

People’s eyes are their most recognizable features. Nothing has more influence than the eyes on the particular mood and meaning of a portrait. On a technical level, you should watch the eyes because they move more rapidly than any other part of the face. Also if they appear to be in sharp focus, so will the rest of the face.

Capturing Smiles

Smiles are important, they bring pictures alive. 

Matching Light to Subject

Bright sun and blue sky is not a good condition for photographing people. Strong sunlight is too intense to show subtleties of of skin tones and texture, and from some angles the harsh light can turn fine lines of character into deep wrinkles. 

The weaker sunlight of morning, and evening is much better. You should try to place people so that light falls on their faces at an angle of about 45 degrees. 

If you want to use oblique directional daylight, thin clouds or haze will help to diffuse the sunlight and reveal some form. Overcast weather eases the technical problem of choosing an exposure to suit both highlight and shadow areas without losing detail. 

Backlight and Silhouettes

Backlighting changes our view of a person dramatically by emphasizing the outlines. Depending on the strength and source of light, and exposure, you can create very different effects with backlighting. 

When there is also some fontal lighting, you can retain some of the details in silhouettes. If the sun is not directly behind the subject, the result may be a silhouette ringed with light. This imparts warmth, which is ideal for romantic photos. 

Babies and Toddlers

All but the youngest children are acutely aware aware of the world around them, and even a one-month old baby’s eyes will follow an object moving above the crib. You should try to capture this attentiveness in your photos. Look for a simple background, such as a blanket. Try to arrange the picture so  that light falls on the baby from the side and from a window that is not in full sunlight. 

To get the best results you should plan the composition. Find a setting that will suit the child’s personality and set up the lighting. Pets are good to add in, to keep the child’s attention. 

“Take Better Pictures”

In researching photography, I read “Take Better Pictures” from The Kodak Library of Creative Photography. There were a handful of images that “any photographer would be proud to take”. This book was aimed to teach simple techniques and clear creative principles of photography.

I found that I knew a lot of these techniques, and I have applied them to my photographs but it is helpful to reiterate the aspects that make a good photo.

Seeing Pictures

It talked about training the eye to see images that will give pleasure when they are taken out of the complex, confused, and constantly shifting world and made into photographs isolated by their frames. They eye is works without our being consciously aware of the process, the brain controls the eye as it rapidly scans a scene to build up a complete picture. A camera can only focus on part of a scene; however the camera has certain powers that are beyond those of the eye.

Identifying the Subject

This is important because one situation usually offers a whole wide range of choices. You should look for a subject that will make a single strong point. If there are too many details in the viewfinder that do not support the main point, the picture will tend to look untidy. There was an example of a conventional panorama, a downward shot, and a close up.

Studied Images, fleeting moments

The camera’s ability to freeze moments of action is one of photography’s most remarkable attributes. An alert photographer can capture these crucial moments, and must learn to anticipate anything photo opportunity. The other approach requires patience, because even the simplest objects can be arranged to make an attractive picture. Light is one of the keys to success in photography, and even natural light can be controlled.

Experimentation

It is important to experiment and each good photographer eventually develops a way of taking pictures that is personal and distinctive.

Aperture

Aperture is adjusted I a series of click stops, each full stop doubling or halving the amount of light let ring in a coded numerical series called f numbers. At maximum aperture only the main focused subject is sharp. The foreground and background are blurred. At a medium aperture the depth of fiend is greater. Most of the background is sharp, but the foreground is still out of focus. At minimum aperture depth of field is so great that even the foreground is sharp.

Isolating what is important

When taking a candid portrait bright colors or strong shapes in the background or foreground may compete for attention with the subject. There are three ways of minimizing depth of field: using a wide aperture, a long focus lens, or a close viewpoint.

This photo is of a leaf with dew drops, and it is a plain and simple picture that contrasts with it’s background. It is particularly eye catching due to the deep pink color. It reminds me of a picture on a calendar. The dew drops, and the sharp borders of the leaf represent the crispness of fall.

This sunset is intense, the pink and purple sky is intensified by the computer, but it conveys the beauty of the sky. These conditions probably would have been ideal for taking portraits. I think that I could have angled the camera more appropriately, because this photo lacks some dynamic. The composition is not as well planned out as it could have been.

This silhouette of a horse was taken in the evening, the original photo had a dark blue skyline. I wish the horse’s head was more clearly outlined. The angle of the camera was very low, almost ground level to capture this photo. I altered the photo to sepia, to kind of match the following photo. The sunset intensifies the composition of this photo.

This photo has a vignette effect, it’s colors are also altered. I thought that the vignette added to the composition, adding balance to the photo. The picture has a balanced feeling as it is in an oval shape. The reflection is the best part, it is eye catching, and then the viewer will probably look to the horse, and then the sky, which matches the reflection. If I was able to re take this photo I would probably simplify the background.

This close up captures the horse’s expression. It is awkwardly positioned, and cropped. However, I believe that adds to the uniqueness. The background is not in focus and the black and white coloring creates a crisp and sharp image. The angle is interesting, and it was a challenge to have the horse’s ears standing up. When taking photos of horses it is always important for their ears to be forward!

This would be considered an action shot of a running horse, I like how he is in slightly more focus than his surroundings. He is weighted to the left of this photo, and I like how his hoofs are just off the ground. The clutter of the leaves contrasts well with the simplicity of his coat and mane.