My Portrait Studio
I am a portrait photographer and have a lot of lighting gear which gets set up and taken down every time I do a portrait session. My studio is in my lounge which is perfect. I get a lot of comments on how homely the studio is how warm and how perfect the whole setup is. People can relax in my lounge be warm whilst wearing sleeveless clothing and I have everything on hand that I need including props and lighting gear.
My Children using my gear
Today my children decided to have a photo competition using my photography lighting gear. I bought a new ladder which inspired my children to put things they love on the ladder and take a photo of it. Here is a photo I took of Arielle leaning on my new rustic ladder prop. I collected it from an amazing house in Mt Pleasant, Christchurch after purchasing it on Trademe.
An old camera
They used an old Canon camera which I had lying around which was my first DSLR. I have found that the photo quality of this camera is pretty average, but it is actually the perfect camera for children to start learning on. I think that studio lighting is one of the easiest types of photography to learn. A lot of people are scared of it but to me, it’s childsplay. You can shoot everything at F8 or F5.6 in the case of these photos. Put your ISO on 100 or 200. Have your shutter speed on 1/125 of a second. Then just leave your settings and only focus on your composition.
I set the camera up for the children. The lighting was set on its usual setting, plugged in and ready to go, and we had a reflector on the opposite side of the one light setup to fill in the dark side of the ladder.
The children’s special things
My children used the ladder as a prop stand. Louis had his ukulele, soft toys, his remote control car and a Lego boat and his favourite toy of all, Mimi, on the top. He also had a sweatshirt and a book. I really love his interesting composition. Arielle had her usual Fujifilm camera the X-T100, her dance shoes and a dance ribbon that she won, plus lots of soft toys, which she loves. She also had her big fluffy jacket hanging on the side of the ladder.
Very little input
The children did this activity without any input from me, apart from setting up the camera settings. All we needed to do was put the trigger on the hot shoe and they were ready to go. I didn’t advise how to set up their props or anything. They decided to make a competition out of it. I cannot choose the winner because both photos are unique and both have great composition and set up. I’m proud of both photos.
A great holiday activity to build self confidence
This would be a great holiday activity, even just using a cell phone. Find a table that can hold some props or a ladder or a bookshelf. Use natural light or a flash and let the children take photos of the things that they love. It reminds them of all the things they absolutely love in their life and the things they are good at. This is a fantastic activity for children as it builds their self confidence and sense of belonging on the planet.