sunday school: a little tilt goes a long way

This is a picture of sheer exhaustion.  After a fun-filled birthday party complete with jumpy castle and a Darth Vader piñata, too little food and too much sweets, we slowed down at home by painting her nails.  So there she sat in her chair, carefully holding her hands just so to avoid smudging the fresh sparkly polish, when she just couldn't keep her head up any longer and she fell into a much needed slumber.  After my initial response of a mother's adoring "Awww, my poor, tired child," I did what any sensible Shutter Sister would do and grabbed my camera.

It's not often that my girl will hold still to have her photo taken, so it was quite a treat to have the freedom to shoot away.  I took about twenty pictures from different angles and distances, but none of the images stood out to me.  On the very last shot that I took, I decided to tilt the camera a tad bit to make the framing less rectangular, and that ended up being the shot that I felt captured best what I wanted to convey, namely the haphazard placement of her hands and arms and head in a chaotic configuration that only children can happily sleep in.

This little tilt of the camera that forces the horizon to be at an angle to the bottom of the image frame (as opposed to parallel to it) is sometimes called the Dutch angle or Dutch tilt.  I have found it quite useful in adding some visual appeal to an otherwise bland image.  I try to use it sparingly, but when I do, more often than not, I love the result. 

If you've never tried the Dutch angle, I highly recommend it the next time you're shooting portraits or even a still object.  Play around with how your frame the shot (i.e., direction of the angle in relation to the subject, where the subject is placed in the composition, etc.), and you just might be pleasantly surprised.  For some great examples, you need look no further than our own Shutter Sisters Flickr pool!

Are there any other camera tilters out there?  Please share with us your favorite off-kilter shots!

Sunday School: Props!

I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I showed up to my friends Kim and Andy's house for a photoshoot and found a HUGE bouquet of red balloons in their living room!  Kim thought it would be fun for the photos, and she was right.  That big splash of red was just the right accessory for a colorful shoot, and not to mention the perfect match for Kim's boots.  I don't shoot portraits often, so it was a good lesson for future reference.

So what are some of your favorite props to use on photoshoots?  Please share your tips and links to images in the comments below.  And since it's Giveaway May, leave a comment (by Monday night at midnight Central Time) to be entered for a chance to win a set of 12 fine art photo cards, yours to choose from this collection. 

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Congrats to Marcy of The Glamorous Life Association!  She wins a dozen photo cards!

exposed

I've been working on a project which required me to spend some time yesterday going through various photography quotes. I found this one here, which got me to thinking: how important is your intention when you're photographing someone? We sometimes change the traditionally aggressive terminology that's associated with photography. Instead of taking a picture, we make one. We don't shoot or capture, we save moments. But then I thought of a friend of mine who goes out of her way to take unflattering photos of people. She always means it to be a joke. But when you're the unlucky one who gets caught in her lens, the word "captured" most definitely describes how it feels.

This got me to thinking about the whole process. It can be a mutual exchange of exposure and trust. And it can also be a violation, like the paparazzi who stalk people waiting for a chance to expose something embarrassing. But what makes it embarrassing? I think it's the idea that a vulnerable piece of us would be carelessly spotlighted for others to see... and worse, judge.

So when a person allows you to take their picture, they're essentially saying that they trust you with their vulnerabilities. This makes it such an honor and responsibility, and also a special challenge if you don't know much about the person. Sarah Rhoads is one of my all-time favorite photographers. She recently went to Thailand, and had some really interesting things to say about her approach to street photography. She talks about how it's not easy to walk up to a stranger and ask if it's okay to take their picture. But I think it's the willingness to be vulnerable first which opens the door for someone to trust you enough to expose them. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. How do you bridge the gap between trust and exposure?

the (kinda dreaded, to be totally honest with you) annual holiday family portrait

Okay so never mind calling it our Annual Holiday Family Portrait. I'm thinking maybe the Annual New Years' Family Portrait. Or the Annual Valentine's Family Portrait. Or perhaps the Annual Anything Other Than Christmas Family Portrait. A strange thing, it is, to desperately bargain with ones' stubborn self. I think that's called sado-masochism. Except this breed of it is marginally less fun.

It's too cold. We give him a hat. He wants chocolate. He gets chocolate. His hands get chocolatey. He wants his Lego, but not near his grabby brother. He's hungry. He's full. He needs a swedish massage, a week of sleep, and a brain transplant.

Like I said, I'm stubborn, compelled to rebel against the firing-squad-in-front-of-the-christmas-tree setup. I wanted something different. Something wintery, but not cliche. Something unique, but relatively easy. Something thoughtful, but quick. A mere 18 frames into it and I'm already JUST PROP THEM UP IN FRONT OF THE EFFING TREE AND LET'S BE DONE WITH IT ALREADY. I'm kidding. But I'm totally not.

Help, sisters. Share with me your holiday portraits. The ones you compromised on. The ones you felt indifferent about, but obligated to produce. The ones that were a surprise. The ones you laboured on. The ones that overcame the expected. The ones that thrilled you. I want it all.

Superhero Photo Challenge: Vintage look

Maybe it was the dress. Maybe it was her beautiful skin or her hair or her classic beauty. But there was something so old world about the shots I captured of Gypsy Girl Alex that day.  

As many of us post-process our images, we start to recognize when a shot lends itself to black and white or a more saturated Lomo look, or something even dreamier. This is one of my favorite parts of digital photography these days.... being able to decide what the shots wants to be even after the fact, or surprising myself by saving a mediocre shot with a bit of creative post-processing. 

Do you have any shots that have a special look to them now? Maybe a vintage wash was just the right thing, or a super saturation or a vignette? Show us your creative shots that surprised even you.