Happy Saturday everyone! I'm here this week to substitute for Lisa and I'm excited to be here. Now that the light is staying longer during the days and afternoons, flowers are blooming and children are staying outside longer it's time to dust the cobwebs off of the camera as well. I like portrait style photography as much as the next scrapbooker, but my eye is always more drawn to the photos of us living life and what we're doing at a certain point in our lives. I prefer to take a step back and take photographs that my family doesn't even know are happening because I don't get crazy smiles or faces! I encourage you to take that step back with your zoom lens and snap away at those people and places in your lives.
For instance, a young girl learning to sew. A photo of her smiling at me over her sewing machine and fabric would be good too, but I much prefer her intense look at the fabric trying to sew together doll clothes and all the sewing stuff in front of her.
My youngest daughter is very much a Grandpa's Girl and takes all opportunities to be with them as much as she can! I have plenty of photos of them this day looking at me and smiling, but this one is my absolute favorite. My active daughter having boundless energy with her grandpa and him taking it all in and relishing it.
It's already beach season here in Okinawa and soon it's beach season in the states as well which is prime opportunity for those cameras to go into overdrive! I have 100's of photos of my family giving me the 100 watt smile while in the pool and beach. I took this one after a few photos of them smiling at me on this cliff, but this one struck me as I pulled back and "let them do their thing". A little sister looking up to her big sister trying to make a plan for what they'll do next on t his beach day.
Pulling back isn't just for the kids in your life either. It's also a good idea to get those adults in your life in their element as well. I recently went on a girls overnight trip with good friends on a beach getaway and as I was coming back from our cabin this scene struck me and I knew I wanted a photo of it. This was the epitome of our weekend: laughing, talking and just being together (the sailboat was just an added bonus in this frame!).
So that's what I encourage you to do this spring and summer: pull back, get yourself away from the scene and photograph what's going on around you in the moment.
