Last week, I had a rare chance to stop by a park with my older son alone. On a whim, I decided to bring along my trusty Canon. I was lamenting of late to my darling husband that I feel I'm in a little bit of a rut in photography-land, so it was nice to take a break from the frequent family photo shoots that I've been busy with, and just take some fun pictures of my boy having a blast at the playground. If you are ever feeling bored, photographing kids on a jungle gym is a fun project.
Looking for creative ways to compose images, utilizing lines, framing, varying perspectives, and changes in exposures and white balance all make for a challenging and fun assignment. Give it a try sometime!
On this particular day, I struggled a bit with choosing white balance, because the sun kept flitting in and out between clouds, and my sun kept flitting in and out between tunnels. Thankfully though, I shoot in RAW and was able to fix any problems post-processing.
On this particular morning, I'm not sure what got into Will, but he had a blast joining in the photography fun, suggesting different places/locations for me to shoot him, and even smiling for the camera, and not all just cheesy, awful, and impatient smiles. I don't expect that to happen again anytime soon.
Jumping from one apparatus to the next, showing me how, he's "a big boy now...almost 4 years old and I can do the monkey bars!" (he made it one bar).
Found some wildlife as well...hard to tell, but there is a huge ant somehow skirting through or under this massive cobweb.
And this lovely little guy decided to sun himself on Will's swim trunks and pose for a few shots.
As I relaxed on that grass under the lovely shade trees,
I took one shot looking up. When your subject is in shade, and you and the camera are not, it really tends to capture life, light and color in your subject's eyes.That's what I was going for here.
I must have been really enjoying this relaxed time with my son, because I actually became inspired to teach him a little about photography for the first time.
I showed him how to carefully and lovingly hold it (heavy body in little 3-year old hands!) and where to press the shutter release. That was the extent of our little lesson, because then he was off. Flowered camera strap resting securely around his little neck, viewfinder pressed tight against his squinting eye, he was out in search of benches, signs, jungle gyms, squirrels, birds, dogs, and anything else at which he could aim that lens.
I'll admit, it thrilled my soul a little to witness his enthusiasm and interest. I might be a bit biased, but I have never laid eyes on a cuter Canon-wielder. And as a parent, I guess it's just plain fun to share your hobbies, interests and passions with your children. I suppose it makes me as happy when I hear him exclaim as we're walking down the street, 'Oh Mama, look at those beautiful flowers!" as it does my husband to hear him emulating pirates ("En garde, you scallywag!") or super heroes ("Up, up and away") during his play escapades.
Anyways, I wax verbose.
I will leave you with a few shots from the budding photographer.
I guess this guy instinctively understands the rule of thirds
And the importance of changing perspective
Now go have some fun with your camera!
