Kachoozie Stock Images

by Heather Shimmin

Oh, the joy of 20 toddlers, two dogs, and a really big cake thrown together in the backyard.  There’s no telling what’s going to happen. Good thing you brought your camera.

Children’s birthday parties can be wonderful or disastrous, which is what makes them fun to photograph.  Drama around every corner, but if you feel a little overwhelmed, or if you’re just not happy with past images, here are some tips to get the most out of the occasion.

LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER

It’s very important that everyone at the party know that you are the “official photographer.”  This is for several reasons:

1.Knowing that someone has been assigned the job of taking photographs takes the worry off of others at the party, allowing to have a carefree and relaxing time at the party.
2.This solves the problem of everyone bringing their camera but no one uses it because they “forgot.”
3.It gives you authority to direct, to take charge, and command the situation.
4.You can get away with a lot more.  Go places or have access to things you may otherwise not have.  This is especially true if you’re not shooting your own child’s birthday party.

GO CANDID INSTEAD OF POSED

I’m not a big fan of posed shots.  Do what you can to avoid them.  If you’re shooting for someone else, take some official posed (and hopefully not too boring) family photos and then stealthily move about taking candid shots. You’re just shooting the posed photos to pacify the family.

These candid shots will be much more interesting than any posed photo and both of you will be much happier with them.  The child with more frosting on his shirt than was on his cake, the spoiled birthday girl crying, the hot-dog-in-one-hand-hamburger-in-the-other kid, the little boy chasing the little girls.  All very exciting imagery.  And don’t just shoot the happy faces.  Shoot the sad ones, the silly ones, the grumpy ones.

GET DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL

Stoop down to their level.  Don’t take images standing up and looking down at the children. Kneel or sit down to see the world at their height – about 3 feet off the ground.

SHUTTER-PRIORITY, APERTURE-PRIORITY, OR AUTOMATIC MODE

Well, defiantly not automatic.  Don’t let the camera determine the settings. Mix it up. Experiment with different camera settings, depth of field, and shutter speed.  This creates variety and visual interest.

LOOK AT THE PARTY DETAILS

Remember to shoot party details, such as the cake, decorations, gifts, and party favors.  Look at a food magazine before hand to give you some ideas of how to arrange and shoot food and decorations.  Donna Hay and Martha Stewart Living have fantastic photography.

KNOW THE SCHEDULE

Know what the party schedule is before hand so you can plan for it.  This may include doing research before the party, such as looking at blowing out the candle shots.  This may mean you need to bring extra equipment such as lighting, reflectors, or scrims.

No Comments »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

He Pooped in the Car! – click here for the podcast

OK here’s the deal, I have a 3 year old Bassett Hound his name is Wilbur. I love the dog, but I feel so bad, since no one in the entire family ever plays with him, so I decided it was best to find him a great home. We hope to find him a home where he will be happy and well cared for, a family that loves him, and plays with him daily.-ter

Well here is Wilbur’s story:

Hello my name is Wilbur, I live in a dog run with another dog named Maxx. Maxx is cool but he is kind of annoying since he is like 12 years old, which is like 180 years old in dog years, thing is, he still thinks he is 2. Maxx acts like a two year old , fetching balls, and barking, what an idiot, but hey the people who own us think it is cute so hey more power to him!

I don’t know what the deal is, but the people who live in the house, occasionally come out to see us, Maxx and I. They say hi, and make goofy faces and sounds, we think it is a hoot, the people must smoke ganga or something. We don’t care since after all we are dogs, and we love everything! Well except cats, and the occasional bird who shits in our food! Anyway, so I think the people want to find me a new home, they think I might be happier with a new family, I am not sure since I kind of like these folks just fine. I mean after all , they hooked me up with a couch in the dog run. A COUCH, I mean who does that? That is totally cool since I spend the day snoozing on the couch, it is the shit!

They also take real good care of me, they feed me daily, they pet me, and again make those funny faces at me, I love that!

So this past Sunday, well I think it was Sunday since I don’t really keep track of the days, you know I am very busy snoozing on the couch. So this past Sunday some people come over to see me, and I am kind of skeered, since the one guy I can tell is not really into Basset Hounds. I can totally understand that since I do slobber allot, and my bark is pretty loud. The guy just looks at me. One of my peeps tells the family, I am a great dog and need some attention, all I need is a good bath and my nails trimmed.I also have valley fever, which really sucks cause I have to get meds, well it sucks for the people, but I actually like it since every night they give me pills in a HOT DAWG. God do I LOVE HAWT DAWGS!!!!!!

The new people decide they like me, well the lady anyway,so they get a leash and take me. They lead me to the car, and then I decide , you know what, I don’t really want to go. It is tooooo late they drag me to the car and put me in the back seat with two little girls. The little girls are great , but I really don’t like that guy.He just keeps eye balling me! WTF?

The guy drives off, and as he does I have a diabolical idea. You know dogs are simple creatures, but on occasion we have some great ideas. The time I pooped on the pool deck was not one of my better moments, but we try.

So I stand up in the back seat, crouch, the little girls look at me and ask the guy what is the doggie doing? As I crouch, I begin to push. You got it! I push out the biggest, steamiest piece of crap I have ever took! It was a total work of art I tell you. Nice and large! You know what, taking a dump there on the car seat was probably one of the most gratifying moments of my doggy life, I mean who gets to do that? The little girls look at me in horror, I am not sure actually, it was not that big of a deal to me anyway. I was so proud I took a dump, then I started barking at the guy, he only glared and I think he started cussing. The little girls screamed in anguish, and moved as close to the windows of the car that they could get.

What is this? I think I felt the car do a 180. Yep it did, the cars tires squealed , and it seemed we were going back to my peeps house! Wow my diabolical scheme worked like a champ. The lady that actually liked me, took me out of the car and walked me to the door. This house smelled very familiar, yep I was back home. The lady rang the doorbell, and my real little girl answered. She took me in, while the lady explained that the guy said no way could I have a dog that took a dump in the car, geeze what would be next, pooping on the pool deck, yea I will do that again fo sho?

The little girl took me in the house, and out to the backyard, to my dog run, to my wonderful couch, I was back. I was back indeed, heheheh.

The moral of my story, if you don’t want to do something, just dump on it!-Wilbur ;}

1 Comment »

What happens when a premier stationary store meets the photo book experts?  A little bundle of joy called Tiny Prints.

Tiny Prints has teamed up with MyCanvas and what a duo.  You can take your photos, your parents’ photos, and those others that are just collecting dust in a shoebox, and create awesome, one-of-a-kind photo  albums.  Using very cool temples (exclusively designed for Tiny Prints), embellishments, and funky borders, you’re going to have the coolest wedding album on the block – possibly the entire county.

Great for travel, weddings, newborns, family history, and is a great alternative to scrapbooking.

Press Release

Tiny Prints Expands Product Offering with Introduction of Premium Photo Books

Tiny Prints Partners with MyCanvas to Provide Customers Access to Premium Photo Books

Mountain View, CA (Vocus/PRWEB ) August 10, 2009—Tiny Prints (http://www.tinyprints.com), a recognized leader for online premium stationery has teamed up with the photo book expert, MyCanvas.com, owned and operated by Ancestry.com, to launch a premium photo books service. This partnership marks an important milestone for Tiny Prints as it expands its product offerings beyond personalized stationery and favors with the introduction of premium photo books to its collection.

With the premium photo books from Tiny Prints and MyCanvas, consumers can now take their favorite snapshots and create charming, one-of-a-kind photo books using fresh and modern design templates exclusively from Tiny Prints artists, while also adding a variety of borders, embellishments and more. These features combined with the easy-to-use customization and preview tools from MyCanvas allow consumers to create personalized albums that reflect their own personal style and taste.

From wedding photo books, to baby, holiday, travel and photography albums, Tiny Prints and MyCanvas provides a platform for customers to beautifully tell a story showcasing their life’s journeys and events in an exquisite, personalized photo book.

For more information, visit tinyprints.mycanvas.com.

About Tiny Prints
Founded in 2004 by three friends in beautiful Mountain View California, Tiny Prints, Inc. is a web-based company comprised of two brands offering premium, personalized, social stationery. Tiny Prints provides simple, modern and unique stationery from photo birth announcements to baby shower invitations and birthday invitations to Christmas cards and holiday photo cards. Offering exclusive designs from the nation’s top designers, easy card personalization, a powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service, their designs have been lauded by numerous television networks, publications and celebrity parents. Tiny Prints finds great joy in helping their customers discover the perfect paper and design that will leave a lasting impression.

No Comments »