My grandmother has a wall in her living room which we refer to as The Grandchild Wall. She has an 8×10 picture of each of the grandkids and great grandkids hanging together representing her legacy and all things adorable. One of my high school portraits is still hanging up there alongside pictures of my kids, my cousins and their kids. It’s pretty great.
I was asked by my loving grandma to scrounge up some current pictures to put on the wall since those kiddos of mine are growing so fast and of course I am eager to fulfill that request. Since my kids aren’t in school and I’m one of those frugal mommas who thinks she can get pictures off her Nikon D40 that are at least as good if not better than the shots you can get at Target or Sears, I’ve been hoping to use a picture I took. Seemed easy enough what with me taking pictures of them literally every day this year.
Big problem is that 98% of my pictures are landscape style shots, zoomed in pretty close because that’s how I like my pictures and it’s adorable and prone to successful awesome shots (see exhibits A, B, C, D…), but as much as I love these pictures, they won’t crop well as a portrait style 8 x 10. I know, I tried. Also problematic? Lately my kids are all about ignoring me when I try to take their picture lately, especially miss B (more examples of this: A, B, C…)
Also my son has discovered The Fake Smile which just tends to look ridiculous (most examples deleted by perfectionist mommy) which means it’s really hard sometimes to get him to pose for a picture without getting that ridiculous expression, you know the one moms! So yesterday I tried to “capture them in their own element” and asked MM to ignore my camera and just have fun and I’d work around the antics and hope for a natural smile. A posed-looking natural style where he’s looking straight at the camera, the lighting is good and he looks happy. Oh and the baby, too. Even though she’s sick right now and basically the opposite of happy. It didn’t go well.
Then I tried flipping the camera, like that was the problem with these pictures…
Do you see what I’m working with here? Back to the drawing board… What was the number for Target Portrait Studios again?
Mommablogsalot 
3 responses to “I'm not a professional photographer, clearly.”
This one cracked me up. Get used to the fake smile as it will probably be there for a few years. The good news though is that they eventually outgrow that phase & then you get wonderful photos again. The bad news? You’re probably looking @ a few years worth of fake smiles. (don’t mean to be such a downer debbie, that’s just what I’ve gone through w/ both of my kids) You will laugh & shake your head about it someday though.
Hope little Miss BB feels better soon!
LikeLike
I really like the ones you have done. They are realistic and not posed and that is how pictures should be.
LikeLike
It’s ok to give in and call in a pro. I won’t judge. 😉
I’m trying to think of some good advice for ya. Have you tried bribery yet..or telling them they can do a bunch of silly faces after or maybe even before to get them loosened up?
LikeLike