Most believe it is a lucky break when a photographer has children and pets. They have ready subjects to photograph and thus to practice with any time. This is simply not true for me. I have beasts that absolutely do not wish to accommodate my requests for sitting for photographs no matter how I might bribe them. I try nearly once a week to coerce them into a photo session and fail every time. This time was different. We were snowed in and they were getting bored. They had seen my Rembrandt style self-portrait taken immediately following my time in Creative Live's Studio Lighting 101 course with Lindsay Adler. (Can I say again that this is one of the very best training sessions I ever attended? You can't help but learn. Fabulous!!) I suppose they thought it looked okay, but they still refused the first few times I asked. They knew I would persist, however. This time I was armed. I promised to deliver the harshest possible photograph with minimal light (well, they are teen boys). I promised only shadowy Rembrandts, split light and profiles. I promised I would take only 15 minutes of their time. I promised they would have the coolest photos ever! Yeah, I was on a roll and they bit.
I set up a small makeshift studio in the basement with the Einstein strobe and dug around to find my silver reflector, which before the class, I had no clue how to use. I had originally planned on using my tripod, but Lindsay doesn't so I put it away. I had also thought about trying to build makeshift barn doors for my speed light, but felt I was overcomplicating things and adding more light when the objective was as little light as possible.
As we got started, the boys were each a mess, cracking jokes, texting, shifting in their seats, making odd faces and doing everything except sitting still in the chair. I kid you not, they are the worst possible clients. I would rather a 2 year old over my own children. One of the things they complain about is how long it takes for me to finish a photo shoot with them -- no wonder. I cannot get them to sit still long enough to get started and get through the shoot. Once they finally settled in, though, a funny thing happened. I started to show them the photos on the back of the camera and they became more agreeable. When they realized they were actually going to get what they paid for (their payment being stillness and silence), I had their undivided attention. No phones, no squirming, no joking. And for that payment, I delivered a new set of social media profile photos. That's how happy they were.
Looking back on that session, it would have been easy for me to get really agitated with them. I must instruct and discipline, yes, but yelling at them only agitates me, not them. They are in their own world. As much as I would prefer to have obedient children who always succumbed to my wishes as soon as commanded, that is not what I was granted. I have children with huge, wonderful minds of their own. If I am patient, we will come together, eventually. I know we were made for each other. So why allow them to make me crazy?
Best wishes!
Today's photo: (a daily double) To each his own...
"Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord." Psalm 127:3
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