Family portrait @ Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
It’s always a pleasurable event to shoot family portraits. Pleasurable because you get to bring happiness to a family and ‘immortalize’ a moment of their life in print. I recently had the privilege to shoot Aliza and her lovely family at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (extension) on a Saturday morning blessed with great lighting, considering the weather has been erratic lately with regular thunderstorm and overcast skies. Even more blessed was that the particular spot I proposed – Eagle Point, is a perennial favourite haunt of birding photographers who stationed themselves at that vantage shaded venue as they wait for white-bellied sea eagles to swop down to grab fishes swimming at the water surface right in front of them.
Shot on the actual day minus hordes of birding photographers in the background. Imagine how relieved I was when the spot was unoccupied that morning. A nature photographer with a huge telephoto lens and tripod left the spot just as the photo session started. Talk about impeccable timing.
Trial photo session
The same spot during a site visit a few weeks before the actual photo session. Observe the birding photographers under the shade. Photoshop can be called upon to ‘clean up’ the background but I like getting my shots right in-cam whenever possible. The site visit was arranged as Aliza and her husband wanted to assess the location as well as see if their 6-months old baby girl can tolerate the tropical heat before breaking out in a heat rash. The original plan was to shoot the portrait in an airconditioned studio setting.
Shooting family portraits with younger children can be challenging as they may not smile on cue or face the camera at the ideal angle. The best way is to try to get them comfortable with you first and sense your presence in the limited time available. And when you start shooting, put the camera on high frame rate as their smile or ideal face position is just a fleeting second. In the picture above, I shot 8 pictures of which only 1 is usable.
Solo Portraits
Other than the family portrait, it’s great to shoot some solo portraits so that the clients have more option to for tabletop pictures other than wall posters.
Candid solo portrait. Children attention span can be short as they are curious of the surrounding. When they are in the best angle and mood, shoot as many as possible. You may not get a 2nd chance.
Certainly an unrehearsed moment. While not ideal for any wall posters or tabletop pics, it is great as a keepsake for the parents to reminiscene in the future when the kids grow up. For another outdoor family portrait I shot sometime back, please feel free to look here.
Camera gears :
Canon model – EOS 5DMk4 . Lenses : Canon EF 70-200mm F4L IS