Facebook Group Photographing Children 2nd Place

Soon we will be announcing the first place winner of the contest on composition. In the meantime I wanted to introduce the second place winner of our last contest on Pictorial Photography of Children.

Lori Hannon-Ladouceur

"The photo was taken when we were out looking for foxes for me to shoot(with my camera of course)! We found some dens, and my daughter was staring into the woods trying to see if the foxes were coming home. "

I think you will agree that the style and composition and story here give it great strength as a contemporary pictorial photograph. It has a magical, ethereal look to it, which seems to convey just the story Lori tells.

Congratulations, Lori!

(Lori received a signed copy of Photographing Children Photoworkshop, by Ginny Felch) To see more about this book, click on the Amazon button on your right.

Photographing Children Contest Winner

Congratulations to Jane Adlem, of London, who won first prize in our Facebook Photographing Children Contest. The assignment was "Pictorial," and this image beautifully typifies my vision of the assignment. We are always busy om our group inspiring one another and improving our photographs of children. Jane is a new member and we welcome and honor her!

What I love about this image is the beautiful and somewhat dramatic background, with soft light that eliminates distracting hot spots. Even though there is a pictorial or painterly look, I consider it a timeless, contemporary photograph due to the clothing. I would not ordinarily recommend centering the subject as Jane chose to do in this photograph, but it is the perfect example of "breaking the rules" and going for boldness. The natural and unfettered expression of the child is timeless and spontaneous. Her body language is so fluid and carefree.

Jane describes her photograph:"This is a photograph of my niece I took for a project which was part of a photography course I recently started. I found this beautiful, quiet country lane not far from her house and just followed her around with my camera whilst she was having fun running and hiding from me. I was so pleased to have captured a sense of her movement and love the way her face looks so lost in thought!

Thank you so much for choosing my photograph, I feel very privileged!"

Today we are starting a new contest. The first prize is Nik Color-Effex Pro 3.0. I LOVE that software and use it almost every day. I will announce the subject of the contest on the Facebook Group Photographing Children page. Don't hesitate to join our group by clicking HERE

If you want to go to the contest page it is HERE

Radio Interview with Ginny Felch on Photographing Children

What a great way to celebrate finishing my taxes! Today I was interviewed about photographing children and my book by West Marin's Adrienne Pfeiffer on KWMR radio, which was live on radio and online. I was a little nervous about it, so I didn't make a big announcement, but after hearing it today, I decided to share it with you. It's about twenty minutes. If you join the group Photographing Children on Facebook, you can ask further questions.

Here it is: Enjoy!

Interview

In the Gloaming...

Days like this make me really appreciate what I do for a living and also as a passion. This little sweetie is 2 1/2 years old and I photographed him on a warm and sunny Sonoma afternoon. I took him, along with his big brother, to the garden at a local winery. The light was a low, broad blue sky, and the overhead portico created good protection from overhead light. The warm glow was thanks to good old California autumn. I love the way the crimson leaves peak through the columns. This portrait demonstrates how lovely an image can be in all its simplicity - both in lighting and composition.

I love the spontaneous, impishness of his expression. What I really love about children this age is that they still have the babyish round, soft cheeks. This usually disappears when they are 3 to 4.

Best of all, his mom said the portrait really captured him! Ahhh. That makes me so happy!

First Amazon Review!

Maine children's photographer, Patrisha McLean, whose beautiful portraits are included in the book, wrote the following raving review:

"Get this book if you have any interest at all in children's photography. The photos are wonderful and inspiring-- none of those cheesy, high-flash, heavy-filter shots so depressingly common in this genre. I am very proud to have a few of my photos included in this superbly-written and illustrated book. I've looked through others of its type and the advice is usually really obvious. Not so here. Even professional children photographers will learn from this book - I've been making my living at this for 10 years and still picked up a few things myself."

Seen above is one of her fine portraits. Check out more of her work on patrishamclean

Announcing....Photographing Children

Announcing......a new blog in development to correspond with the release my book, Photographing Children Photoworkshop by Ginny Felch (Wiley Publications) .You can pre-order on Amazon.com by doing a search for Ginny Felch. It is expected to be released by February, 2008 or earlier.

The book and the website will focus on the creative and inspirational approach to photographing children, with the emphasis on photographing from the heart. At the same time, you will find a friendly and unintimidating approach to the technical aspects of children's photography.

I was asked to write this book by Robert Farber, a well-known and admired photographer, and the developer of Photoworkshop.com. It will be one book in a series of books that will be featured on that website, which will display images posted for the workshop assignments at the end of each chapter of the books.

I have been been photographing children professionally for their parents for thirty years, and I am a Master of Photography through Professional Photographers of America. This degree has afforded me the opportunity to speak for and teach professional photographers, nationally and internationally. My inspiration was photographing my son, Zach, throughout his childhood.

As I continue with portrait commissions, I am also very excited about inspiring parents to create more sensitive, dynamic and stunning photographs of their children, in a very friendly and non-technical way. The material in this book has evolved through years of one-on-one coaching.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, you can see some of my work on my website, www.silverliningimages.com. Email me directly at ginny@silverliningimages.com for questions or feedback.