5 DAY PHOTO CHALLENGE

5 DAY PHOTO CHALLENGE The purpose of this challenge is to get you taking more/ different photos of your kids that you normally wouldn’t. This is for people using their phone or a DSLR, all skill levels welcome. The best-case scenario is you do all five days, but even just doing ONE day is better than zero. LETS 👏🏻 DO 👏🏻 THIS 👏🏻 My children aren’t the type of kids who are just going to look at my camera and smile. That’s just not their thing. So when I want new portraits of them, it has to be accompanied by an activity. I’m going to give some tips for the beginner photographer and then hook you guys up with the Pinterest inspo so that you can run with it! If you post it online please tag me! I want to cheer you on!

MONDAY- CREATIVE SHEETS So I’m going to attach a string from my living room curtain rod and attach it to a chair and drape some sheets from it. I know that my kids are going to be so excited to play in it. I may add some light/ Christmas or fairy just for a little extra. This could basically be a fort anywhere though, just make sure you’re setting it up somewhere with great natural light, it will make all the difference.

TUESDAY- SUPER HERO I think all kids are little heroes, I want to see my kids soar! The thing is, we are all on lockdown and I don’t think we have any capes/ costumes. So we are going to use pillowcases LOL. I just love the idea of one kiddo holding up the other one’s cape as if it was the wind. If there is an adult around to hold them up like they were actually flying (that would be amazing). Or even a kiddo in a superman pose while doing an airplane on an adults or bigger kids feet.

WEDNESDAY- BAKING DAY You get portraits ANNNND tasty treats, this is a win-win folks. This has been a fav way to get lifestyle portraits of both of my kids for a while. They have so much fun. Remember to work the angles 😉

THURSDAY - SPA DAY You have been working hard, it’s time for a spa day. I love the idea of a bath with tons of bubbles or a milk bath with some flowers or oranges. I think it would be awesome to get kids in robes being all comfy cozy with face masks or a couple slices of cucumber. This could also mean if you have more than one kiddo, taking pictures of them painting nails. Lots of options :D

FRIDAY- FLEX DAY Ok so I’m going to leave you with a couple choices for the last day. So you get to pick: OUTSIDE IN- So this means bringing something inside that you’d normally do outside. My initial plan was to do bring bubbles inside by great window light, but when I saw the little girl on the skateboard I knew there was so much potential. Fishing in the sink, sunglasses, beach style, pool donuts etc.

CRAFT SHOW- This would be pretty similar to the baking day in the way you set up the activity, the kids are doing their thing while you work the angles and get snap happy!

FAV TOY/ ACTIVITY- What a great way to honor this time in their life. With this one, really working the angles, getting those close up shots, and trying for interesting compositions will get you that full gallery of great portraits.

TIPS: 1. Find great light. If you aren’t a pro with flash, I’d recommend soft natural light from a window. Bright spaces with loads of natural light is every photographer's dream. When the light source is coming from directly above it creates a shadow from your forehead under your eyes 🤦🏽‍♀️ so having that nice light coming from the side, is everything 🙌🏻 2. Work the angles. To get a full gallery of great images, try shooting: -from above getting the top of their heads or their hands -get low, table level or floor level -side angle, so snapping their face’s profile -just keep moving to keep trying different perspectives, I would say that generally shooting to see up people’s nostrils isn’t the most flattering angle, so I’d suggest limiting those ones lol 3. Be aware of what’s in your frame (your picture or future picture). Clear clutter so that your kiddo can be the most interesting thing in the photo. 4. Rule of thirds. If you split your photo into 3 equal sections vertically and 3 equal sections horizontally and placed your kiddo (or subject) in 1/3 or 2/3 of the photo it’s said your photo will be more interesting. Basically when you look at a photo your eye is generally going to go to the middle first, but if your subject is off-centered it’s a little bit more exciting because your eye travels around the photo. 5. Play with ‘negative space’. Having lots of negative space makes things interesting and artistic. It’s similar to the rule of thirds in the way that it gets your eye traveling around, it’s unusual so it makes things more exciting. 6. Zoom with your feet. This is for those of you using a phone. It lowers the quality when you zoom so physically moving helps! 7. Get those ‘macro’ shots! Zoom in and focus on those little toes, fingers and details. It makes for a more well-rounded gallery. 8. Another way to elevate your photo is by having something in the foreground, your subject in focus, and having something behind your subject. Your eye will travel to what’s most in focus, so it’s a clever way to frame your subject. There’s also ways to draw attention by using leading lines, making things interesting by using reflections, pattern repetition and symmetry, and then like anything creative, knowing the rules and then breaking all of them 😆. Honestly I think you can get wrapped up in ‘rules’ and forget to just HAVE FUN. Having fun is the top priority. If you used the first 2 tips, you’re going to get great images! GEAR: If you’re shooting with a cell phone, play with different shooting modes! The pro mode on Samsung is really cool. Portrait mode on the iPhone also takes great shots when you have great light! If you’re pulling out your DSLR and shooting in manual mode, perfect!! If you have a fancy DSLR but are shooting in auto I’m going to suggest you change the dial to a different shooting mode to ‘AV’ on Canon or ‘A’ to aperture priority. You’ll be able to change one setting, and I’m going to suggest going to the lowest value possible. It’s going to have an F in front so going down to f1.8 or f3.5 or f5.6 how low can you go? This totally depends on your lens. The lower that f number is the more blurred the background and foreground will be! If you don’t know how to change the setting, dm me and we will work through it together!!