The Shot Between The Shots

If you read a lot of photography blogs and/or books, you will hear the veterans of the craft talk about the shot between the shots. That it, the real shot is the one that is caught when the subject is off guard and their true personality shows.

Over the weekend, I was walking my dogs with my son and when we came upon a small pond in our neighborhood. The morning light was awesome and my jaw dropped when I looked up and saw the color of the trees behind the pond. I immediately decreed that it was time to take fall portraits of the children. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter were working at a community garage sale and then I had to take my daughter to piano practice right afterward. That meant no picture taking until the ugly hours of the middle afternoon. Booo. As luck would have it, a bunch of clouds rolled in and turned the ugly direct sunlight into soft diffused daylight! I dragged an umbrella out to the pond that afternoon and asked the kids to stand together for a portrait to send to their Grandmother for her upcoming birthday. I swear, I almost lost my mind trying to get these two to stand still and smile. After only a couple of attempts, this was the best I could do:

I wish I had the patience with my own children to somehow get them to cooperate, but within seconds after this shot my kids were rolling on the banks of the pond and then my son ran off all upset at his sister! Here I was, just getting started, and they were finished. When shooting kids – there’s no practice time. You’ve gotta get it right immediately or else you lose them.

I asked my daughter to smile pretty for some shots after my boy ran off. When I did that, she put on what was obvious to me as the world’s most forced smile and pose. If I could see it, the world would see it as well. So, I began to talk in a crazy demon voice and she started to giggle at my silliness. Luckily, she was in frame. That is the shot at the top of the post, which was my favorite of the day – the shot between the shots. That’s my daughter – a happy kid who loves to laugh, and that’s how she looks when she’s doing it.