Who am I?

I'm a mother, wife, marketing manager, and lifestyle photographer based in Washington, DC who loves to photograph children and families. Capturing the moments in between the expected shots is what I strive for when I shoot, and I enjoy watching my friends’ faces when they see how I’ve interpreted their children in a finished image. I’m all about “seriously fun photography”.

Like many Momtographers, I started out with a DSLR that had more options than I knew what to do with, and lots of enthusiasm. In my mind, I was already a great photographer, and I had piles of poorly exposed, centered shots with color casts from my old Canon S100 Digital Elph to prove it! But when my daughter was born in 2006, the pictures I was striving for had a more serene, joyful, and tender tone. I wanted to translate my new love for her into beautiful images. At that point, I decided to get out of auto mode and actually read my camera manual. I went online to research how to take better photos, and found that most suggestions boiled down to a few common themes. And so a Momtographer was born…

My approach to photography?

Photographing your own kids is usually a bit more challenging than photographing someone else’s because your kids aren’t really afraid of you, nor are they trying to impress you. Unless there’s a specific look I’m going for, I’ll typically shoot in manual mode and in RAW format, metering off the middle of my daughter’s forehead or cheek (whichever one I can lock onto first). My ISO depends on whether or not I have time (or energy) to grab my speedlight before losing the moment, but generally, speedlight equals lower ISO, and no speedlight means I take it as high as I need to. In low light situations when it’s hard to meter correctly, I’ll take a shot, chimp it, adjust my settings, then shoot again until I like what I see. Most of the shots I take are from intuitively knowing how she will react, which can be a huge advantage for Momtographers. My daughter is three, which means she’s in a very independent, rebellious stage. If I want to capture her doing something,  or need to direct her in any way, I usually have to tell her not to do it. So what works for me is leading her to a setting, then saying something like, “Honey, don’t look at mommy and no sitting still allowed, okay?” Of course, my daughter’s response to that is a champion gaze and a winning expression. I can only use that a few times, though – after that, she may start to believe me and the next thing you know, she’s exhibiting anti-social behavior and doesn’t have any playdates.

With other children, I typically come into a shoot with the goal of creating just one amazing photograph out of the many candids I’ll shoot during a session. This takes away the pressure of “nailing every shot” and results in a more relaxed atmosphere for me and my subjects. I shoot with a Canon Markii 5D and most of my images are shot with primes (usually the 50mm 1.4 or 85mm 1.2), but lately I’ve been using my 24-105mm zoom. I shoot wide open and love shallow depths of field, rarely stopping down my aperture past 5.6. For the sharpest images out of my primes, I stop down about two stops from their widest aperture and fire away. For lighting, I use the Alien Bees B800 (in hot pink – woo! hoo!) and I’m a big fan of reflective umbrellas. I used to shoot with soft boxes, but found umbrellas to be faster, cheaper, and in my opinion – easier to manage when time is of the essence. If I’m shooting around my house, I might have a strobe/umbrella set up, or if it’s just me and my daughter, I might decide to use a pocket of window light, kick up the ISO and see what fun images result. Remember, unless it’s a paid gig, it’s all about capturing the moments – not  nailing specific shots. I also keep my camera “unholstered” around the house, meaning it’s usually on and ready to go with a half-press of a shutter button.

My Advice To Other Momtographers?

Shoot every day. Henri Cartier-Bresson once said “Your first 10,000 images are your worst…” so just go out and have some fun while getting those out of the way. Also, try playing with different lighting situations. If you usually shoot in natural light, buy some inexpensive foam core and experiment with it as a reflector.  If you shoot with a speedlight, cut off the ends of a lined juice box and try snooting your flash. Digital photography gives us the opportunity to evolve as photographers every day, so go out there and get some of those clicks out!

As Momtographers, we’re usually only a few shutter clicks away from the next item on our busy schedules. So here’s how to put some pizzazz into your pictures pronto for added impact:

·The eyes have it. It’s in our nature to focus on a person’s eyes first. Try to get the eyes of your subject in focus and the rest of the picture can get away with being as fuzzy as it wants to be.

·Catch your subject in the act. “The act” can be anything from tearing up the family room to taking a nap. As long as you can manage an organic shot of your subject without interfering, you can almost always come away with some emotion captured in the image.

·Notice your background. We’ve all taken the shot with toys strewn around the floor and half the baby swing (or pack ‘n play, or exersaucer) poking out from the side of the frame. Try to remember to clear away the clutter, or better yet, “artfully arrange” your clutter in the background. Your friends will wonder how your mess always seems to look so good.

·Change your angle. This is one of the easiest ways to make a photo more interesting. You’ve heard of grass stains on the knees? Try getting them on your chest and back (I once photographed a relative’s wedding on the beach and was shaking sand out of the top of my bridesmaid dress all throughout dinner). Go low or get up on a step ladder. Your viewing audience will thank you for the refreshing point of view.

And Because She Rocks... A Few More Goodies!