Family Photos with Elise

I met Elise in France last year on the Cleghorn Battlefield Tour that I helped lead.  Elise is quite smart and, with Vero,  helped to bridge the gap between the French students from Montreal and the English students from Waterloo on the tour.

For a while now, Elise has asked when it would be possible for me to capture her 11 year old Daughter and 8 year old adopted son from Ethiopia.  Only charging a lot more for travel would have allowed that to happen and I figured at some point I would be passing through Montreal on my way home so we waited.  It just so happened that we crossed paths in my parent's home town of Shediac, New Brunswick.

Her daughter, Isuelt, is a little sweetheart and absolutely loves the camera.  She picked out a special hat and her little white dress for the shoot.  She loved to be directed and contributed her own ideas and modelesque looks.

Dawit, on the other hand was not as open, to the idea of having his photo taken at first.

But as the shoot progressed he became more comfortable and by the end was directing the shoot.

This is one reason why I like taking my time with families and letting them interact in their own way.  So many parents want their child to listen to the photographer.  Quite frankly I would prefer if the opposite occurred.  I'd rather be chasing them in their element acting as themselves then directing a hardened, shy, embarrassed, or unhappy young one in front of the lens.  When I shoot models, I often tell them in our contact beforehand that I should be chasing you and then I'll stop you if I want a slightly different angle etc...  the same works wonders with family shoots.  I always start by introducing myself no matter their age, getting down to their level, making eye contact and talking to them while holding my camera but never firing a single shot.  Then I always encourage the kids to start out doing what they want and from there I can direct their pose a little more, shift them slightly to a better light.  Once they are into the process and you've created that trust, the images come naturally.

Iseult with her hat and her dress on the beach in Shediac

Jasmine Star, a very popular wedding photographer, runs her business on the motto that couples (brides in particular) buy a photographer not photographs.  I follow the same strategy for all my shoots from weddings to models to family moments.

Dawit with the Big Lobster in Shediac