Exquisite Image Photography

Having a bad day?  Photograph it!

One of my favorite subjects to photograph is my children.  I always enjoy capturing their smiles on film.  Lately, however, I’ve been taking advantage of their bad days as well.  Scowls, frowns and even tears are documented (don’t worry, I snap a few quick pictures before putting my camera down to hug my sweet babies).  I like using black and white for these shots because I feel it really brings out every crinkle and crease created by these sad or angry or frustrated emotions.

Today’s picture was taken of my son  right after he finished eating some little crackers.  I put the bowl up and he started wailing for more!  My camera happened to be on the counter, so I seized the opportunity and snapped this shot.  I was glad I did, because he immediately forgot about the crackers and became fascinated with the camera.  I kept shooting, but this single photo was the only one where he really looked upset.  I’m secretly thrilled as it will certainly be brought out during first dates or other embarrassing moments.

Really good black and white photographs require an awareness of light that I am still trying to improve on.  Light can be your best friend or your worst enemy when taking black and white photographs.  A lot of the time I will just keep shooting the same subject while moving around to different positions trying to get an idea of what looks best.  Most of the time I end up with a lot of okay pictures and one or two real jewels.  With a digital camera, I really enjoy the instant gratification of being able to load my pictures on to a computer and view them right away.  Sometimes I’m surprised by the results – a shot that I thought was going to be amazing turns out horrible, or one that I didn’t feel I got right actually came out wonderful.

Well, it’s been a long time since I added anything new to my shop Exquisite Image.  This weekend I’m taking a roadtrip north to Pennsylvania, and I’m hoping for some great new shots to share.  Now that the summer is over I will have more time to blog, so keep checking back!

Until next time friends!

*today’s feature photograph is available as a greeting card at www.exquisiteimage.etsy.com*