Meet the Seattle Fall CONFIDENCE Workshop, a beautiful group of women who flew in from all over the country!  On Day Two, we start the morning with unpacking metering so that we can be shooting in Manual Mode by the time the Family Shoot happens that same afternoon.  Women are always a bit nervous, especially the beginners, that they will not be able to make it happen.  But you are about to see twenty photos that prove they not only made it happen, but they knocked it out of the park!

Some of these ladies have blogs and website, we’ve hyperlinked their names if they do!  Be sure to check out more of their work.  And if you have a few moments, leave a comment of celebration or encouragement b/c they all worked so hard and really pushed their limitations for two days.  Super proud of these ladies!

We start the family shoot with me “thinking outloud” as I walk through setting up my camera and the family for a holiday photo, and then what other poses/set ups, tricks to help them relax, after we’ve got the holiday photo done.

Here is the holiday family photo “set up” that I walked the group through (and maybe the ladies will remember ALL the subtle adjustments we made until it felt right).  Photography is a collection of subtle shifts–little shift here, little shift there, another little shift for the best rim light, another shift to have mom’s face lit even, and on you go until VOILA!  You see it! Now you are ready to lift the camera up and grab the photo!  Challenge for YOU:  Before you snap your photo, check to  make sure there aren’t any other subtle shifts you could make that would draw the emotion and light out that much more.

(this family is our neighbors, and i LOVE them so much!  just had to say that!  :))

What a fun image of this little guy, taken by Amaris Michelle Espinosa.  The slight vignette that she put on this image draws us right into his happy face!  For those of you who have my book “Your Baby in Pictures”, this is the SAME little boy who was the crying baby for the photo recipe “Tiny Cries”!  How do they grow THIS FAST!

 Amy Swank caught Amanda and her husband without their little ones running around them, or they might have been and we don’t even know it.  I love to take at least a couple images of the parents together during a family session.  They always sell because they probably haven’t had any professional images done of them since their wedding:)  Amanda…you look marvelous!  (Amanda came to our CONFIDENCE Workshop four years ago! One of my favorite parts of the shoots is seeing ladies from past workshops and how their families have grown!)

I always try to position (pose) a family in a great spot with awesome light.  Then I will tell them to just talk to each other for a second while I get ready (I’m really ready and actually snapping shots already).  This is a great way to relax a family, especially a family with more than 2 kiddos (and you get the most “candid” images), like Carrie caught.  Very nice!

 Christy Cowan also captured an awesome, relaxed portrait of this family.  Remember, not all need to be looking at the camera.  Trying to engage them with eachother will most likely yield genuine emotion.  Awesome job Christy!

Oh my goodness, I just love the Mom and Dad in this image.  We had a fun time setting this shot up with the couple’s help and the group working together.  Knowing little tricks to help people relax in front of the camera make ALL the difference.  Don’t they look completely in love?  And the sweet little girls are watching them from the back.  Mmmmm, goodness.  Way to go Gargi!  This gorgeous mom is Tonya Todd, a wonderful photographer in our area!

Genny Kothari  really caught the emotion of this mother and daughter’s bond.  The coloring is magnificent!

Another shot that I just love.  You can almost tell what their faces look like by looking at the movement of their feet.  Innocent happiness.  Great view Jacki!

Jill Ulander knew what she was composing when she took this image.  I really like the natural lines that the railing fence and stairs make.  Really nice and crisp with a buttery background.

 Julie Wray…another image of an amazing family, relaxing and just having fun!  Look at the smile on Dad’s face.  It doesn’t get more “real” than that.

Karyn surely shot this is at a low aperture.  The tree leaves are glistening almost like holiday lights!  Keeping your aperture low while shooting portraits, really makes your subjects “stand out”.  Fantastic!

I can totally feel how safe this little girl feels in Daddy’s arms.  Katie, such a tender moment you captured.

I love this pose that Krista caught.  Putting the children up front and the parents blurred out in the back (with big smiles) is always a winner.  For this shot, since the two girls are not exactly on the same plane, I would have shot this between 2.8 and 4.0, depending on which lens is used.   And the emotion on the older girls face is an added bonus here.

It’s okay to cut heads off sometimes.  It really works in the “Rule of Thirds” composition that Kristy choose to go with here.  Kristy, this is adorable!  Awesome job!

Look at his face!  Maria, you really caught him in his element!  Absolutely darling!

 Danielle Kindelberger captured this tender moment between mom and her boys.  I love the simple black and white tone that you applied here.  Just perfect.

This looks like a magazine image.  Wow… Michaela Hundahl!  It is hard to shoot with such a strong backlight and  girl, you took your meter and knocked it out of the park!

Neyssa Lee worked her magic with this little girl.  The slight camera tilt adds a little more texture by bringing in the door frame.  Precious Neyssa, your little guy is going to have the BEST photos as he grows up!

Robyn…I hope they put this image on their wall!  What a super family portrait!

Every one of these women took their camera, creative spirit, courage and WENT FOR IT!  Not only did they capture awesome photos, but we had a BLAST in the process!

Thank you so much ladies for a wonderful, WONDERFUL weekend!  One of my favorite moments was when Danielle introduced herself and said she didn’t know who I was but was just surfing for a weekend getaway and figured Hotel Murano was a great place to spend it!  LOL!  Brian and I still laugh about that moment!  We hope Danielle, and all the rest of you, got that weekend away that filled you up and nourished your creative spirits to move forward with confidence!  You have all that it takes to go for it!

THANK YOU so much to all the families for being our models!  What would we do with out YOU!!  We appreciate you so much!!  And I know you are going to LOVE all the photos these ladies captured!

xoxo,
m

p.s.  We have a Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop in January!  More Winter CONFIDENCE Workshops are happening on East and West Coast! Early Bird Registration and our Payment Plan is going on now!  (Christmas is looking REAL GOOD for some special ladies! )   CLICK HERE to find the city nearest you and get ALL the juicy details!