KIDS at weddings rock! If you use your imagination, you can make fairytale imagery!

When shooting a reception, I’m pretty sure we have all noticed small children playing on the dance floor with no inhibitions..Spinning, jumping, rolling, twisting, sliding and always SMILING. PERFECT photo chance… I don’t really like to stand anywhere for more than a few seconds while shooting as the shot angle & composition possibilities will start to grow redundant…so, we move around and change it up.

With children, the key here is to get on their level.

I am always tearing the knees out of my pants because I am on the ground trying to find a new angle…typically from the floor on my knees!

Why not spice up the photo chance by mixing your on camera flash with a some edgy light. Since you are shooting at a lower angle, have your off camera speedlight come in from a low angle or a high angle of view. A personal assistant speedlight operator is the way to go! Develop good hand signals and communication skills with your assistant.

A little silhouette totally takes this image to a different place. I was trying to light the bride & groom, seen in background… This picture really sparks my imagination. I look at the groom’s face and wonder what is going on in his mind as this magical little moment was captured…The brides face shows ear to ear smiles … this was her niece …

speedlight set to 1/4 power on a zoom…I’m guessing 85mm. It is coming in from a low angle over from the right side.. I like how a little spill landed on her dress.

My imagination takes me a few places when I look at this shot…are they thinking about having their own children as they watch her spinning by?

Here is another one fun image from a first dance sequence. My assistant is operating the speedlight on a boom pole at 1/4 power. I waited for the little girl to skip her way underneath my light and fired off a few frames… The speedlight introduced into the frame adds a layered dimension as well.

Here, we just finished shooting the father daughter dance and the same little girl gave us another killer moment in time. My assistant & soon to be wife, www.soltamargo.com timed this shot perfectly! This frame stands out to me because of the multiple layered subjects enhanced by the dynamic side light.. The added light was introduced from Sol’s off camera speedlight operator at 1/8th power from floor level.

My mind dreams up some cool fairytale thoughts here… Daddy’s little girl flashes in front of his eyes…. GREAT SHOT SOL!

Have fun with kids on the dance floor…throw in some light, make dynamic images
Cheers,
matt

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 11:30 am and is filed under Photographers, Matt Adcock, Sol Tamargo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.