JUNE 16, 2017
INTERMEDIATE
A Pro's Tips for the Best
Children's Photos
Featuring TAMARA LACKEY
© Tamara Lackey
It was a warmer light, later in the day, and I was working with her to get past
some silly expressions and to show her authentic smile. It's fantastic to get a real
look from your subject, in brilliant light—and it's worth working for, repeatedly.
D800, AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G, 1/250 second, f/2.8, ISO 160, manual
exposure, Matrix metering.
Before you assess the location and the light, before the camera comes out and the
lens is chosen, it's a good idea to unpack some strategy and psychology, as they
are truly the essential elements you'll need to get the best possible photos of your
kids or grandkids, nieces or nephews.
That's one of the things we learned from Tamara Lackey, whose mastery of
portraits and lifestyle photographs evidences not only imaging skills but a sure
command of the strategies needed to consistently capture the moods, moments
and expressions that make for memorable images of children.
Here's more of what we learned:
Ages and Expectations
The ages of your subjects are going to dictate what you can draw from them.
"When I'm dealing with younger children—babies through toddlers—part of my job
is containment," Tamara says. "I go in knowing they have no interest in being
photographed, [and] I have to contain them so just for the millisecond I have, I get
an expression that matters." Containment can mean making a game of all or part
of the session in order to keep the child in the spot Tamara's chosen, or it can
mean setting up a location and gently—"in an inspiring, non-threatening way"—
moving the child to it. "I'm always thinking, how do I get them so that I'm not
always shooting the back of their heads. For that age, I lower my expectations of
what kind of interaction I'm going to get, and I make fast use of the few moments I
do get."
From four to nine-year-olds Tamara expects to get a lot of performance art.
"They're going to perform for me—watch me do this, watch me do that—so I have
to be sure I'm shooting that as well as more authentic images."
From nine to 12 or 13 years of age, she's photographing children who are
becoming self-conscious about how they look and how they come across.
"They're thinking, was I cool, was I pretty, was I fashionable, and will this look
good on Instagram? So one of my jobs is to help them feel sure about themselves,
and comfortable, and I take extra steps to photograph them attractively because it
matters more to them now. And as I show them that I'm photographing them
attractively—because I'm posing and lighting them well—I get more authentic
engagement."
With teenagers Tamara's approach is to go with the truth: "Whether stated or not, I
acknowledge that I know they don't want to be here being photographed." She'll
tell them she's on their side, set a countdown—"it's going to be a couple of
hours"—and go to work looking for and catching micro expressions. "It takes only
a second to get a laugh or an intense look before they remember they're not
supposed to be responding to me." She'll talk with them, but avoid the obvious
—"What are you studying in school?" isn't going to work. "They have
predetermined responses and expressions for that," she says, so she'll go with the
offbeat, like asking about their stances on current congressional bills. The
measure of her success with teenagers is the number of times she hears versions
of "I had no idea you were getting these!" when her subjects see the images on
the back of the camera.
In fact, Tamara says, "When you watch a video of me photographing children, it
doesn't look like I'm getting anything, but the amount of time I need for an
expression is only 1/200th or 1/1000th [of a] second. I go into shoots giving myself
a break, knowing that I need only a hair of a second here and a hair of a second
there, and if I get eight to ten of those, it's enough."
© Tamara Lackey
"I'd worked with her, her sister and their mom—we'd been in the water, on the
sand—and she got bored with me, which is kind of a great place to be. I strive to
be just background noise after a long period of engaging and engaging. So,
bored, she just started walking away, and I got that moment." D4, AF-S NIKKOR
24-70mm f/2.8G ED, 1/800 second, f/9, ISO 200, manual exposure, spot
metering.
Gear Up
And that's where the gear comes in: if you're going to have merely milliseconds to
capture expressions, maybe a little longer for poses, you need to look to fast
lenses and high shutter speeds to help you out. You also need to work quickly, so
complete familiarity with whatever gear you're using is vital. "The worse thing in
the world is an amazing moment happening, and you're at the wrong setting or just
not ready," is Tamara's take on making the mechanics second, and speedy,
nature.
Trust Factor
Having your subjects trust you is obviously key for a professional shooter, but it's
equally important for the family photographer. "The best way to start when
photographing your kids or nieces or nephews," Tamara says, "is to say, 'My
whole goal is to get great pictures and have fun.' And then let them know they're
contributing to the success of the photo—it's a confidence builder for them."
Stay Connected
Tamara tends to shoot a lot with the camera away from her body in order to keep
interaction alive between her and her subject. "Sometimes when you move the big
black box in front of your face, you shut communication down," she says. "I'm very
comfortable shooting with the camera away from my face, so I can have
exchanges and get really quirky looks. It sometimes appears that the subject is
looking off, but she's actually looking at me while I'm shooting with the camera
held away." To do this she is most often using a wide-angle lens, like the 35mm,
or has the focal length of the zoom lens at its widest—"the 24-70mm is a great
lens to use with this technique," she says.
© Tamara Lackey
"I wanted this image to say 'brothers.' You can see which is the actor and which
is the 'looking cool' kid, and I had to interact with them separately before I could
get them together. I call this 'organic posing'—I pose them and they shift into
something that looks way better." D800, AF Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8D, 1/250
second, f/4, ISO 400, manual exposure, Matrix metering.
Focus on Expression
"Every single time I'm about to take a photograph, looking at the frame I'm about to
shoot, I'm thinking about what I can eliminate," Tamara says. "The more I can
eliminate, the more striking the subject's expression will be because viewers tend
to hone right in on what matters. All the other things that could be distracting have
been taken out; it's not just 'unclutter your background'—most people know if you
want a stronger image, you need less clutter—it's more like 'unclutter everything in
the frame that takes your eye away from what you want to see.' If that means
physically moving things out of the way, or changing the angle completely, even if
it means the lighting won't be as strong and I'll have to add light, if it makes for a
cleaner look and feel, I'm drawn to that. An uncluttered frame makes a big
difference in how strong images can appear and how much impact they can have
from expressions."
It's Always On
There's no warm-up to a session; don't waste a second. "I often see
photographers or parents taking photographs of kids, and they're having
exchanges and the child is reacting or laughing, and they're not clicking. They're
forgetting it's all about the photograph, and the exchange they're having is
important. Every session starts with I'm ready."
Tamara finds that some of the best shots she gets with some subjects happen
right at the beginning; with others, right toward the end. But she never knows how
it's going to go, so her attitude is always, "It's happening the whole time."
Compose and Recompose
Don't lose the shot if the composition isn't perfect. "Sometimes I’m going to have to
compose my subject in a way that might not be to my liking," Tamara says, "but I
know I have the subject sharp and clean and can later crop as a way of
recomposing to get the look and feel I want." Which is one of the reasons she
favors the resolution of the D800 and the D4—"I can crop in and still get a great
photo. I love having all that room to play."
Lenses, Specifically
"The worse thing can be having to step back because you've got a long lens on
the camera and completely losing control over the subject. With the 35mm I can
stay close...and even get a shallow depth of field if I make a point of separating my
subject from the background."
So proximity equals control? "They have to pay attention to you because you're
close," she says, "and I generally need to be close to keep control. I lose
engagement when I step behind a long lens and go far away. Lens choice can
literally allow me to be within arm's reach when I have to guide them back into the
frame, and that's something I will do in that containment-stage age group. When
they're leaving, I have to roll them back into my frame."
© Tamara Lackey
"I had to keep pulling her out of the canned, sort of cheesy smile she wanted to
deliver all the time. I did it by being silly, just some stream of consciousness, not
a set thing I say, and in this moment I got a sincere, real reaction." D800, AF-S
NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G, 1/160 second, f/2.5, ISO 180, manual exposure, Matrix
metering.
To view a collection of Tamara's images, visit her website at www.tamaralackey.com.
Featuring
TAMARA LACKEY
Tamara Lackey
Tamara Lackey is a portrait photographer whose work has been
described as "expressive, soulful, funny, beautiful" and has appeared
in such publications as O Magazine, Men's Journal and Parenting
Magazine. Her imagery has also been showcased on ABC's The
Martha Stewart Show, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and
NBC's The Today Show. When not shooting, Tamara is writing about
and teaching photography, business and work/life balance at
workshops and conferences around the world. She is also the
founder of www.AllInOneLife.com, a website dedicated to creative
entrepreneurs who are bringing together family, work, and the most
meaningful aspects of their life. Tamara is the co-producer and host
of Inside Contemporary Children's Photography and the Booklist
Editors' award-winning Capturing Life Through (Better) Photography
media series. She has authored four books and her most recent
publications are Envisioning Family and The Posing Playbook.
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