Category: Family

I went into a false mirror room with my daughter when we visited an amusement park in Voronezh. This was a first time for her, and she really enjoyed it, but I think part of the fun was that I brought my camera and tried to snap as many photos as I could, capturing her reaction to the funny reflections.

This is a good example of how photography enhances everyday activities, not just by capturing memories, but by truly adding value to the experience. My three-years-old daughter is used to being photographed, and she likes the process of taking pictures. I can see rudimentary signs of acting in her behaviour in front of the camera. I wonder if her interest in photos will grow with age or she will eventually become annoyed with parents taking her pictures. I have seen examples of the latter scenario in our friends’ children, but hope that being aware of her reactions will help me avoid pushing the photography beyond the point where it would lose its fun aspects for her. I would love to pick the brain of someone like Elena Shumilova on how to achieve this balance.

I have been thinking about shooting a photo documentary of some sort, and recently decided to take an opportunity to practice by taking pictures of my daughter, who has been enjoying baking with her grandmother. I read that one of the most important educational aspects of baking for young children is learning the value of a systematic process, so baking makes a perfect subject for a documentary.

In this particular case, I was very thorough in terms of capturing all the stages; my focus was on the mood and the emotional content of the process instead. One effect of taking a systematic approach to an otherwise very casual shoot was a greater variety of shots, even though my view angles were limited by a rather cramped kitchen and less than ideal backgrounds (mainly, in terms of colours).

The main challenge in shooting candid portraits is the lack of control in general (in terms of composition, lighting, etc.) This also applies to the colours in the image – the clothes of the subjects and the background. Sometimes, the colours are so loud and clashing that the best thing to do is to ignore them during the shoot, and simply convert the image to monochrome in post-processing.

When I took photos of my mother and daughter baking together in a small kitchen, the quarters were so tight that I did not have much choice in terms of the composition. Fortunately, a 35 mm lens provides a wide enough field of view to allow some cropping afterwards. In terms of the colours, I did not want to convert the photos to black-and-white if at all possible, so I tried to position myself so that the brightly coloured background elements (e.g. a wall calendar, etc.) would not be in the frame. In this particular case, the scene itself, which has a lot of sentimental value for me, outweighs the technical shortcoming.

When taking family pictures on a holiday like Mother’s Day, it is best to let the children and parents interact and play naturally, without imposing on them with lighting, wardrobe and posing directions. The profound nature of our relationships with our mothers makes it difficult to convey this connection in a picture, which freezes only one short instant in the relationship. It is common knowledge that conventional, posed family portraits are often boring (partly, because they reflect the experience of taking these photos – tired parents, uncooperative children, stressed-out photographers…) On the other hand, a candid portrait can potentially provide a unique glimpse of a genuine emotion that connects the family members through their “normal” interactions.

The chances of taking a good family portrait are greatly improved if children are used to being photographed. If taking pictures is not a special occasion for them, but rather a part of daily play, they are more likely to “forget” about the camera and display their genuine behaviour.

The same argument applies to adults (in this case, parents.) Despite the wide-spread obsession with selfies, typically, our mental self-image is different from the more objective view provided by the camera. This is why we often don’t like how we look in photographs. Accepting the image of oneself as others see it takes practice. A positive side effect of being photographed regularly is that we can learn which poses, camera angles, clothes etc. are most flattering for us and repeatably reproduce those conditions. Thus, we can objectively become more photogenic.

Russian photographer Elena Shumilova became famous online for idyllic portraits of her children that she has been taking at a farmland in beautiful golden light. Recently, she shared her thoughts on what makes a good children’s portrait.

Her main advice is to take photos of one’s children regularly, as often as possible. Doing so helps children relax in front of the camera. This advice is not surprising, as daily practice is crucial for developing any skill. In this case, it applies both to the photographer and the model(s). I take many pictures of my daughter, and although I do not do it daily, I do notice that she is very comfortable with the camera (if fact, she often wants to take pictures herself).

Elena also notices that the most photogenic age is between three and five years old. This is a bit sad, as time flies incredibly fast, and my daughter will soon outgrow this “golden window.” Perhaps, focussing on child photography when his/her own children are of the most photogenic age is a good strategy for a parent-photographer.

Elena’s other suggestions are regarding persistence in photographing children and avoiding brightly-coloured, distracting clothes. Both are deceptively simple and obvious. In practice, even such trivial thing as wardrobe selection can be tricky, as modern children’s clothes are often overly bright and covered with cartoon characters and company logos. If we want to be able to capture spontaneous, genuine images that would have some artistic quality on a moment’s notice, it is not sufficient to keep the camera handy and have a good sense of composition. We also have to be conscious about colours, fit, etc. while picking the children’s clothes.