Hi everyone, in this blog post I will share tips with you to try help you make the most of these beautiful autumnal evenings and get some gorgeous images.
I am so lucky to be in lockdown with my little nephew Donnacha. He was just the best little model. He, like every child loves being outside so I didn't have to drag him out.
One of the most important things I would say is, if you are looking to get some nice, natural photographs of anyone ... you need to HAVE FUN!
What to wear?
So with doing an outdoor shoot you have to take into consideration where you'll be shooting.
With Donnacha here, we know its autumn colours.
Browns, blacks, reds, oranges and greens.
His little body warmer is such a gorgeous shade of brown, I knew it would match in perfectly.
So the weather has been wet and our garden was mucky from that which meant, wellies were an essential item of clothing!
-Wellies are from "Frank and Polly Kids Boutique, Castleblayney"
- Bodywarmer was bought online from "George by ASDA"
- His tracksuit is from "Bonds Australia"
Finding the right location
I picked this corner of the garden to start our shoot. It has a gorgeous tree with loads of fallen leaves on the ground.
Another important thing I check for is "eye sores". Is there anything in your background or foreground that will be distracting to the eye and take away from the photograph. Examples of this are garden toys, cars, farm machinery, washing line and maybe even buildings. If you want a nice clean image try avoid all distractions. We have two dogs that want to be in all the photos so they're hard to avoid, but they're lucky they're cute!
Using a prop
Saying as the pumpkin patches are closed over lockdown, I give donnacha a pumpkin we had in the house that we hadn't carved.
It's so simple but so effective. The colour of the pumpkin blends in with the colours of the hedge behind him and the leaves on the ground.
It got "too heavy" after a while!
Avoiding the "cheese face"
Okay, so we all know it. "CHHHHEEEEEEEESE"
They look uncomfortable and awkward, it's not going to make a nice photo.
Children are going to be awkward when you tell them to just stand and smile. They're kids.
With Donnacha in this shoot. I got him to "catch the camera".
He would jump up to try and grab it.
This give me the down facing angle and I love it with kids. The leaves on the ground added pops of colour also.
Prop number 2
Going back to the use of props. It's so important for the child to be kept busy, They want to be playing so why not encourage it as much a possible. Use the leaves! Tell them to kick them, throw them, roll around them in. Whatever they're up for.
These make some great action shots.
Catch and chase
So our "catch the camera" game, progressed into a catch and chase game.
I would say "I'm going to catch you!" and he would run away, it wasn't so much the photos of him running away that I'd get, but the faces when he'd turn around to chase me.
Exploring
I love these shots of inside and between the trees, leave them explore and just be a fly on the wall.
Go with the flow
While shooting, a rainbow appeared in the sky. It wasn't in a great area in the sky and wasn't very strong in the sky and was quite hard to capture but you can see it faintly. It didn't work out how I wanted it to but it wasn't planned and it was a little extra. So don't beat yourself up for not getting the image just how you liked it. I still love these.
Don't forget to have some fun yourself.You will never regret taking a photo! (you might regret not wearing makeup!) haha
You may end up treasuring the photograph for the rest of your life.
Donnacha had to get taking a photo then. The face of concentration.
Thanks so much for reading my blog post and I hope it will give you some tips and help you capture some lovely lockdown memories.
This is my first blog like this and If you all like it, i'll do more on different topics.
If you'd like to get out and take your own autumn images or just want some more advice and help, tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook.
I'd love to see them.