Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 11:42 AM 11/9/00 +0100, Alan Hull wrote: >Have you ever noticed how quick a toddler can turn their head for >instance? I swear that from one position to another is just a blur, >there is no in-between. Fast shutter speeds and wide open lenses are >not my normal style and I am really making a botch of capturing some >unrepeatable situations. Use your normal shutter speeds to your advantage. The blur helps show the kid's inherent state of being at that age. After a long enough session and with much patience they do eventually pause for a minute to recharge their batteries. Calm reflective portraits can be stolen then once they've become bored with you pointing a camera at them. Use some faster film to allow a smaller stop and increase your DOF. The wide angle (shorter/reduced image magnification) lenses can't hurt either, they WILL give you more focusing latitude and you can crop down only to what you need later. Perfect 'in camera' composition is really difficult with active kids and pets so don't feel pregnant about having a hard time. That's why good child/pet photographers are so difficult to find and cost a fortune. Patience like that is inhuman. A holiday season at a Sears studio cured me of ever wanting to be a child photographer. For my own 2 and 3 year olds I generally use a Stylus Epic. When they aren't in constant motion (ie...asleep) I sometimes use the M5 to photograph them. Carpe Luminem, Michael E. Berube http://www.goodphotos.com