Art Was Her Thing...

She was shy.  You know, when they pull up in their cars, I try to go out to meet them, to say hi to them while they're still strapped into the safety of their familiar car seats, which over the course of the past couple years has molded itself to the shape of their tiny bodies.  And I could tell, when I met this one, that she was going to be a little...shy.  She looked at me out of the corners of her eyes.  She focused on her chubby hands or her  mother's smiling, hopeful face.  I led them inside, to the studio, chatting with Mom, my mind turning furiously to find the THING, the one single THING that would unlock this little girl's personality.  And this time, it came in the first few minutes, before we even started shooting.  Her mom volunteered that she loved to draw.  

"How about I tape up some paper and give her some chalk," I asked.

And that was all it took.

                                                                      She drew. 

She stepped on pastels and looked at the smears of color on the bottoms of her feet.

She had some really cute feet.

She ended up with pastels EVERYWHERE...

     Which opened up other ideas.  

Wings inspired lots and lots of running.  

      And grinning.

 

And tippy-toeing

We did all sorts of things.

Wen went outside and rode the swing.

          And slid on the slide.

And rode the horsie.

And stuck our fingers in the fountain.

 It was a really good time.  Really good.  And she was glorious.  An 18 month old filled with light and energy.  And it worked, because, in those first few moments, we found her THING.  The thing that let her personality breathe for the camera.  Pastels and paper.  That was all it took.  So, when you decided it's time for portraits for your child, and if you sense that "natural ham" does NOT describe him or her, ask yourself, what is their THING?  All kids have something that lights them up, makes them open to showing their innate delight and wonder. Bring it with you.  Mention it.  Talk about it beforehand.  Then, the pictures are easy.  

Old Stuff Is Good

So, I think old stuff in photography is good.  Don't get me wrong.  I love new stuff as well, sleek modern lines and clean, hard colors.  But old stuff, well, it seems to capture something, some bit of ghostly character of the past.  Perhaps, in the photos, there is also a presence of the previous life of that object or location.  Perhaps there is a nostalgia for times we never lived through, but heard about.  Perhaps Senior Portraits looks so good with old props because the Seniors themselves are so young, new, and unblemished with the ravages of time.  Or maybe, just maybe, Old Stuff is cool.  Hard to tell.  But I love photographing old things.