Ok, Smile on 3...1, 2,...Oh For Crying Out Loud!

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 12 May 2008 in People & Portraits and Portfolio.

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I set out to start working on their mom's Mother's Day present. She has been asking for a portait of the kids for quite sometime. Knowing how difficult the four of them are to photograph individually (how many photos of my kids have you seen on this photoblog??? I rest my case.), trying to get them to cooperate for a decent family portrait gave me a lot of pause. When I've tried to get a group shot of them in the past, all of us were usually fit to be tied after about 5 shots because of their lack of cooperation and sour faces. Perhaps I expected too much of them in the past. Perhaps I wanted the picture to be too perfect. So, I decided this portrait attempt would be different. I figured I would let them dress however they wanted. No dress clothes. Just come how you are. It would be very informal and shot outdoors. That seemed to help, but I still got the moaning and whining and the "how long is this going to take?" questions.

I'm happy to report that I did get one...ONE...useable shot where they weren't frowning, looking off in the wrong direction, blinking, or screwing around. A black and white version of that image now hangs on our wall and my wife must have sat in the living room this morning for over an hour staring at it. I guess I did alright. The kids, on the other hand, now complain that they have to look at their own picture hanging on the wall(and a 16x20 print at that!).

The image above is one of the numerous outtakes from our effort. I hope all you moms out there had a great Mother's Day.

All images and text are copyrighted by Russell D. Devan. The download, duplication, printing or copying of these images in any manner without the expressed written authorization of the photographer is strictly prohibited. Please contact me if you would like to use this image in any way.

VFXY Photos | Listed on Photoblogs.org