More pictures of my sister’s beautiful family…

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am much more comfortable with wedding photography than family photos. Crazy, huh? Yes, when photographing a wedding there are some moments of pressure – the first kiss, etc. – but I really enjoy taking pictures of an event as it happens. That’s why one of my least favorite parts of the wedding day is all the posed family photos. Of course I still take these (it’s what Grandma wants to frame), but I definitely prefer the candid, non-traditional photos to these. Anyway, I’m trying to get better at photographing kids. Don’t get me wrong. I love children! I think I just put a lot of pressure on myself when taking family or children photos. I want these pictures to be – like my preferred wedding photos – candid, non-traditional, fun. But toddlers can be difficult! Getting composition, lighting, and my other camera settings right is sometimes all I can focus on – I struggle with entertaining my subjects at the same time. While I’m holding my camera, I have a hard time thinking of clever things to say to get young children to smile – that’s why so many of the photos I have of toddlers are candid, and their smiles and facial expressions are natural. But getting “candid” photos of a whole family tends to be a bit harder for me. Anyway, I typically only take family photos for my own family, close friends, or past clients who know how I work. I’m hoping the more I take, the more comfortable I will become. Meanwhile, my poor brother-in-law Brent will just have to continue to bare with Rachel and I when he comes home from a long day of work to us picking through his closet and me telling him during our photo sessions, “Brent, pretend like I’m not here. Look candid. No, look candid a different way.” Hey, at least I think we got their outfits right. The pink, yellow, and orange has a nice summery feel, doesn’t it?!

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