Shooting the Boss's kids......

Paulie-W

Paulie-W

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Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
Well not quite :D

My Boss's wife has asked me to shoot their boys (9,7 & 4) in natural settings/ poses :eek: and frankly as I don't shoot people (daughter mainly) i'm in dire need of some tips here.
I think i'm ok lens wise (17-55, 70-200 & 105 micro), but for general setting up etc for indoors and outside in the park, is where i feel i will need the tips. I have a sb800 with the diffuser that come with it, and recently bought one of those soft plastic bubble things too.

Any pointers would be much appreciated :thumbs:
 
All I can suggest is... just don't make it too complex, you really can get bogged down in technicalities. TAKE LOT'S OF SHOTS! It may not be the sophisticated elegant answer I know. But it can work sometimes :)
Most of all have fun, kids can be great to work with if you let them.

cheers
 
I'd be tempted to take them down to the local park/wood with one of the parents, get them playing about, climbing trees etc. Typical boy stuff.
 
You could just say you don't shoot people, I'm no good at it :shrug:

If it's a field you don't want to get into, don't.

If it is, is the bosses kids the right place to start :eek:
 
have a look on flickr for shoot ideas :thumbs:

Also use a fast shutter if they are on the go alot, the last thing you want to show the boss is any images with a hint of blur in them.

Mainly enjoy yourself, you never know you might like this side of togging
 
Get down on their level and also try to capture the calmer moments too. Play with them and get dirty! Whatever it is that they normally do try to fit in around that.

Swings are good but you need to prefocus on the top of the backswing and have good timing :)
 
Bill Roberts said:
All I can suggest is... just don't make it too complex, you really can get bogged down in technicalities. TAKE LOT'S OF SHOTS! It may not be the sophisticated elegant answer I know. But it can work sometimes :)
Most of all have fun, kids can be great to work with if you let them.

cheers
Click to expand...

Cheers Bill. Knowing me i probably would have thought about complex stuff and screwed it all up. Duly noted :thumbs:

Harvey_nikon said:
I'd be tempted to take them down to the local park/wood with one of the parents, get them playing about, climbing trees etc. Typical boy stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. There is a good park close by where they live, so that would be a good location :thumbs:

PerfectSpeed said:
You could just say you don't shoot people, I'm no good at it :shrug:

If it's a field you don't want to get into, don't.

If it is, is the bosses kids the right place to start :eek:
Click to expand...

The trouble is, is that she has seen stuff on my fb and on flickr, so i'm caught really :shrug: In at the deep end i guess :eek:

ChrisGaskin said:
have a look on flickr for shoot ideas :thumbs:

Also use a fast shutter if they are on the go alot, the last thing you want to show the boss is any images with a hint of blur in them.

Mainly enjoy yourself, you never know you might like this side of togging
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris, again duly noted *fast shutter* *have fun* *keep 'em enjoying themselves* :thumbs:
 
If I have a particularly shy person, I will some get them to have a little supervised play with my camera, get them to pose and then show them the shots, this kinda breaks the ice and normally they will relax, Some love to pose others love to just run off, but as the parents will all ready know this, they will probably expect shots along the lines.
 
AliB said:
Get down on their level and also try to capture the calmer moments too. Play with them and get dirty! Whatever it is that they normally do try to fit in around that.
Click to expand...

Erm apparently all they do is fight :lol: But getting down low is a good thought, cheers mate.

AliB said:
Swings are good but you need to prefocus on the top of the backswing and have good timing :)
Click to expand...

Ooh nice, didn't think about that.

Farno said:
If I have a particularly shy person, I will some get them to have a little supervised play with my camera, get them to pose and then show them the shots, this kinda breaks the ice and normally they will relax, Some love to pose others love to just run off, but as the parents will all ready know this, they will probably expect shots along the lines.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. I think only the youngest is a bit shy. We shall see :D
 
I did this recently with 2 of my kids, we found a really good tree and took dozens of pictures.

There are a few of them on the front page of my Flickr, all taken with a 50mm f1.8 and no flash.

I am quite please with them.
 
leaky5 said:
I did this recently with 2 of my kids, we found a really good tree and took dozens of pictures.

There are a few of them on the front page of my Flickr, all taken with a 50mm f1.8 and no flash.

I am quite please with them.
Click to expand...


Nice set :thumbs: I'll have to go scout a half decent tree i think. Cheers for that.
 
leaky5 said:
Thanks. Funny this, I have the day off work today ans was planning to try a different park and look for some good trees !!!!!
Click to expand...

Nice one. Long weekend eh ya lucky b****r ;)
 
Not so good then :)
 
we did some photos of kids for my wifes colleague. We went to their house and got the kids playing in their rooms, and running around in the garden. The 70-200 may be too tight on a cropped body, but is good if you have enough space to stand quite far back and can pick off unique expressions and funny moments without being noticed too much. As someone suggested earlier is that to get on their level and to shoot loads. Some of our best photos were ones were the kids were playing on the trampoline and i shout the whole sequence of them bouncing and got some nice ones of them mid air with nice expressions.
 
I reckon a 12-ball, and make sure you don't miss.

Actually, as it might be group, set your camera to continous mode, and take 3 each time. Less chance of eyes being closed?
 
hsuffyan said:
we did some photos of kids for my wifes colleague. We went to their house and got the kids playing in their rooms, and running around in the garden. The 70-200 may be too tight on a cropped body, but is good if you have enough space to stand quite far back and can pick off unique expressions and funny moments without being noticed too much. As someone suggested earlier is that to get on their level and to shoot loads. Some of our best photos were ones were the kids were playing on the trampoline and i shout the whole sequence of them bouncing and got some nice ones of them mid air with nice expressions.
Click to expand...

coldpenguin said:
I reckon a 12-ball, and make sure you don't miss.

Actually, as it might be group, set your camera to continous mode, and take 3 each time. Less chance of eyes being closed?
Click to expand...


Cheers guys :)
Good tip on continous for the anti blink :thumbs:
 
Bill Roberts said:
All I can suggest is... just don't make it too complex, you really can get bogged down in technicalities. TAKE LOT'S OF SHOTS! It may not be the sophisticated elegant answer I know. But it can work sometimes :)
Most of all have fun, kids can be great to work with if you let them.

cheers
Click to expand...

cameras and gear can be intimidating

keep it simple...a fast user compact would do imho
hang around and wait for that moment....then



shoot from the hip :thumbs:
 
Well thanks to all who posted tips and advice. Much appreciated. Big day is tomorrow.


If all of a sudden you see a load of Nikon gear in the for sale section, you know it didn't go too well :lol:
 
Like heck!

You will be fine, it will go well and even if you are not 100% happy, you pick yourself up, get back in there and do it again. :)

Relax and even if your stomach is doing back flips, remain calm and confident in front of the kids. Good luck and hope you enjoy it :)
 
Thanks mate.
 
BIG slow methodical breaths throughout the shoot (slowly in through the nose, slowly out through the mouth) works wonders in the most stressful situations.

You are going to have the most amount of fun you won't remember until you download the photos.

Steve
 
As I suggested earlier, just check the basics, ISO, shooting mode, AF is on, battery is good, you've got a spare, you've actually got a memory card in the camera :)

Don't get bogged down in technicalities, and most of all have fun!

You'll be fine, don't worry.

cheers
 
Well it was a long day, but I don't think I screwed up too much :lol: Weather was pretty poor and the light was like someone turning a switch on and aff all the damn time, but hey......

Now the elimination and processing starts :gag:

Thanks again all for the help :thumbs:
 
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