HUNAN SPICE: Everything I needed to know about photography posing...I learned from a pre-schooler!

Yes, it's so true, most of what I learned from posing children I actually learned from my daughter! She is very determined and stubborn and so I thought, why not take advantage of doing things her way? Actually knowing the developmental behaviors of kids is really the key. Although, Kira has always been set in her ways, most 5 yr olds love to run, dance, explore and of course dress up and use their imaginations. So ya just got to work with it.

I used to believe that in order to capture those "perfect" shots I had to continuously keep my finger on the shutter button or by the end of a shoot walk away exhausted from trying to entertain a child who had their individual ideas of what "play" was (and sitting through an hour or two family session just wasn't one of them.)

So my sweet, creative and feisty little girl helped me to realize that pre-schoolers are quite capable of knowing the true definition of candid photography.
These images were taken with my D700 and 50/1.8mm lens. I changed the ISO depending on the light since I love to shoot nearly wide open (f/2.2 or lower) and adjusted the shutter speed as needed. Also I like to set my EV at 0.3; a nice combination that works for me when trying to obtain optimal exposure.

Yesterday I bought some flowers and as we walked around the house we found some bright pink azaleas that caught Kira's eye and so as you can see this is what she did and how she wanted to use her "props". Notice she wanted a "pony tail that was off to the side" so I had no control over this spontaneous shoot, which made it even more fun!

Here is the typical, "okay Mom, you can take just one picture," with hands placed strategically on the hips and a face that says "you've got one shot

Oh how this child makes me laugh and if I can say one thing, her attitude is adorably displayed in the image above. She wanted to blow bubbles and I wanted just one more photo and again, her face says it all. I love her laughter, pouting and most of all her sensitive personality. But this image I'm saving for her future husband:)) and in gallery of favorite images.