Elldub Photography: The Hipsher Boys

Monday, January 31, 2011

The Hipsher Boys

This was a fun photo shoot. In an incredibly supportive move by my boss (the one at my REAL job) he hired me to take some photos of his boys, Dom and J.D. We visited Pine Lake in Sammamish, WA which turned out to be more dynamic a background than I had originally anticipated. Between the playgrounds, fields, docks, and beach, we used this hour quite effectively. The boys were incredibly patient during that hour, but I think the cold weather eventually got to them. It was indeed VERY cold. I wasn’t well dressed for that.

Armed with two loving parents, and pockets full of fruit snack bribes, we began with some posed shots, but we soon found that spontaneity could work to our favor. As the boys ran around and played, there were more opportunities to capture them being who they are, happy and curious little boys.

At times, they weren’t too sure of the bearded guy with the camera (me), but they indulged my presence which allowed for me to get sneaky, capturing them being themselves. This became easier toward the end of the shoot, when the boys could throw rocks in to the water.

The feel I went for in this shoot was different than my usual, more stylized shots. I typically use altered color tones and fading to covey mood, but as I started to try that for these photos it didn’t fit. There was something special in these photos… personality…innocence….something. It didn’t require heavy post processing to be interesting. I change my approach in favor of something more honest, colorful, bright, and something that highlights the spirit and innocent curiosity of boys. I felt pretty good about what we were able to do in an hour.

I think the youngest boy, J.D. was intrigued by the camera. He would give me a spry yet curious look. Like he was studying something.

Normally in these types of shoots, I’d provide some heavy direction in order to get the boys to play/laugh/etc. However their natural being, with a bit of prodding/encouragement from the parents, created something more than I could have directed on my own.

Another piece that was different about this shoot is that I took almost all photos with my fixed 50mm f1.2. for the close up photos, the goal was bokeh, and it was achieved in most of the shots. In others, selective focus was the goal. I think if you review the photos from this shoot, you’ll notice those two compositional themes throughout.