Shutter Sisters

He Posed for Me

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Finally….  one of my boys agreed to pose for me. Perhaps it was a weak moment. Really it doesn’t matter. What matters is he posed for me.  Woo hoo!

I’ve been wanting to take Bryce’s photo forever. But he always has one excuse or another. The truth is, I am not much for taking people pics, so maybe I’m not that persistent. I’m way more comfortable setting up still lifes or photographing Ben. Probably because they don’t talk back. ‘smile’.

The other day I thought, darn it, I’m going to demand he let’s me do it. I casually walked into the living room….all calm, cool and collected. ‘Bryce, I need to take your picture in the white room. Can you please let me? I need to practice with this new lens.’ I was prepared for resistance, so I had a whole speech ready. But he simply stood up and said ‘sure….as long as I can keep my toque on….‘ I could not believe it…. I was almost speechless…..

I didn’t waste a moment… Up we went…. and click, click, click… He didn’t complain, he followed ‘direction’…which is somewhat unusual… And we captured some fabulous shots. Then we popped into the studio and did a little post processing together. The whole experience was perfect.

This is our favorite shot…I think it really captures who Bryce is. He’s a deep thinker… quite serious and I often catch him looking just like this.  

How about you? Are you met with resistance when you try to photograph your family? Any tips for me?

Share a family photo with us today. 

Comments

  2. This picture makes me wish I knew what he was thinking about…
    I couldn't believe it today — the sun came out and it wasn't dark at 4 pm. So, we went to the park and found the biggest slide we could. And she was so happy.

  3. Resistance, ha! I only have one child and she is 15. I have to PAY her if I want her to pose for me…. it
    s really quite sad. I need to find me some new models!

  4. Very handsome! Love the B&W. Yes I'm with you I prefer not taking people shots but do on occasion and need to more often!

  7. What a handsome son you have…yes, he looks very "thought-full". As a fellow deep thinker, I approve! 🙂 I'm fortunate that my daughter loves to pose for me, although she's away at college so we don't get to do it very often.

  11. I have a teenage son who I have the same trouble with. I think they just feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. I love this shot and would love to try something similar with my son. Thanks for the inspiration. Your son is very handsome, looks like a model, tell him to pose for you more!

  14. what a handsome young man.

    my philosophy, shoot early and often. I am not a fan of the posed shot, much to grandmom's chagrin – she likes face forward, hair out of eyes, and a smile. I prefer them as they usually are – as I see them. we have gotten to the point, where I shoot around them enough that they don't pay attention to me at all. Often times, I'll catch them from behind, and I can still see so much of their personalities in their gestures, and truthfully, this is often my view of them, so it's what I wish to capture.

    Every now and again, I'll say, let's take one for grandmom & then I get the camera aware cheesy grin, but since they are doing it for her, they usually comply.

    My hope is that when my kids are teenagers they'll not notice me/my camera at all, but time will tell, and I may have to re-think my strategies. Down the road, they will want pictures of this time, and you, most certainly will, so it's ok to be a little pushy, I think.

    the girl
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/22487105@N06/6574947115/

    the boy
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/22487105@N06/6676657811/

  17. He's handsome, toque and all – love the light and pose. I took this one of my daughter the other day – I begged her for just 2 minutes in the backyard. My older daughter asks for 'photoshoots' all the time. I am planning to take portraits of all of my friends and family because everyone should have a beautiful picture of themselves 🙂
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_pod/6757973793/

  19. My oldest son is exactly the same way! We do a family photo every year for our Christmas card, even though our boys are 24 & 21 – they know it's gonna happen.
    We give him plenty of notice that "this is the day" so that he's not all cranky about it! He's getting better and i think part of it is that he went out a few months ago and bought his own "big boy" camera!
    Cherish these shots – I know how few & far between they are!

  21. Ha, so true! I love that portrait! It's really great, Kim!

    I have a really difficult time nailing my husband down for a photo session…not to mention it's difficult for me to get the exposure correct with his skin tone. (If I leave it on aperture priority, it's HORRIBLE.) Manual always take a bit longer to get the correct settings but man, it really works wonders.

    And at least, this time he was patient and let me get a few shots of him.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/galphoto/6761638365/

  23. This year I took on the project of my grandson's Senior photos. He and his friend were a delight to shoot. Both really got into the posing part of it and were even looking on line to find good poses for the yearbook. It was fun. I also did wedding reception photos for my niece this year and a photo shoot with her for a special project I had. I have started to enjoy doing more people portraits but landscape is much easier!!

    http://patmarkphotography.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-06T11:05:00-07:00&max-results=5

  25. This is wonderful portrait of Bryce! I love the black and white processing!

    I don't have any family~~no parents, no siblings, no husband, no children :~( Those of you who do are very lucky. I have to make do with admiring and appreciating the photos that others take of their families :~)

  26. What a handsome son you have Kim! Beautiful experiences between mother and son, especially like yours in this post, are so heartwarming. It is much harder for me to take pictures of my 6 year old boy than my 3 year old daughter. He is more reluctant, not sure if it is because he does not want to get his picture taken or simply that he has fire in his pants!

    In this photo he was begging for something, can't remember what now, but I could not resist his puppy dog expression and the opportunity to capture his eyes!

    http://www.colourofpomegranates.com/my-boy/

    However there are times when boy and girl pose for the camera, but they are certainly very rare indeed!

    http://www.colourofpomegranates.com/sibling-love/

    Hope you have a wonderful day Kim!

  27. Wonderful portrait, Kim! Like you, I prefer the "real person" shots, rather than the standard "Look at the camera and say CHEESE" images — though the latter can be cute with toddlers and children at times, as they can have some pretty "cheesey" grins 🙂

    How sweet of Bryce to agree to work with you so willingly. My youngest son, Matthew, greatly dislikes having his picture taken, but he recently allowed me to do so while we were shopping at Walmart, of all places! My capture is not as dramatic or aesthetically pleasing as yours, but it includes my two grandchildren, so to me it's perfect 🙂

    http://kimzphotoblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-heart.html

  28. What a great image of your son! Like you, I have had a hard time getting my family to agree to posing for me, and if they do, there is alot of resistance and complaining–however, they don't complain when I capture a beautiful image for them. I am going to work hard on this in the coming months, try to get my family (and friends) to be much more willing as models 🙂

  29. Kim your son is so HANDSOME (yes in all caps).
    Love the post, I need advice because my family really dislikes the camera.
    The best time to catch my guys are when they are sleeping.
    It's the only time when no one objects and they stay still.
    Maybe I'll gather all these up and put them in a book and call it my "sleep project". =)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallroots/6771611747/

  33. Kim! Your son is adorable!!!! And what a moment I know you will treasure always. That light is gorgeous and I love that u converted it. Yeah!!!!!

  34. This is a wonderful portrait. He is very handsome. I'm so happy for you that you weren't met with resistance, hopefully some healing has happened. I'll pray and hope that that is true.

  35. I LOVE taking people shots. My sons?, not so good at letting me without a "gesture" of sorts. UGH.

    But plenty of students around.

    Nice shot of Bryce o'natural.

  36. What a great photo Kim!! I think that is the greatest (and sometimes also the most challenging) part of portrait photography is when you see their personality in the photo. I don't really have any great portraits of ANY of my family, only snapshots at family functions. My dad especially hates having his photo taken and every photo of him he is making a goofy photo. For awhile I have wanted to do a photoshoot of him, with his guitar, in his element, and truly capture HIM. And you have inspired me kim!!! Do you have any tips on directing a photo member? I mean…how to tell them what to do, pose etc? I feel like it is different with someone you are so close with… xo

  37. My daughter actually dressed for this occasion and asked me to take her picture. We drove to Venice Beach Ca. and headed for the graffiti wall that is constantly changing. I love this photo. I'm so glad your son let you photography him,kim.

  39. My two sons are now 30 and 32. I photographed them daily from their birth until they reached the age of resistance. They didn't ever refuse, but …. As teenagers, their photographic smiles were tougher to pull out. Last summer, I agreed to take three seasons of senior photos for my great-niece.She has a beautiful smile, she has great ideas, and sometimes I even have an idea that works. Our winter session was complete with a brief snowstorm, but she had a great idea. It worked.

    http://withinmyfocus.blogspot.com/2012/01/joy-in-snow.html

  40. Excellent portrait.

    I am not very good at people portraits either and my kids (8 and 5) are not willing participants most of the time. I have found, though, that it is always better to catch them off guard. It comes out more interesting and natural. If I do get them to agree to pose, they give the goofiest smiles 🙂

    This is one that I liked because it struck me as funny. My daughter was quite attached to this little rudolf all during the holiday time:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjakobsen-martin/6557197893/

  41. Kim,
    What a wonderful portrait of Bryce! It has a timeless quality about it – the light, the mood, the handsomeness of a young man – along with capturing the symbols of contemporary clothing. Wonderful. So glad he finally consented!
    I have a beautiful model away at college and when she's home…..well, where does the time go? It slips away. Next time I'll have to come at it with your attitude!!!
    Wishing you well,
    Anna

  42. You nailed it – wonderful photo! I am terrified of photographying people. I really don't know why because I've never really had any terrible experience. Maybe it's just the thought of being told NO! Very few people in my family like having their photo taken. They just ignore me most of the time. I need to take a cue from you and be persistent. Again, this is a great photo!

  44. yes. my mom had the same problem. 2/3 of her children HATED seeing the camera. it got to a point where her coming to visit or them going to visit her was often met with resistence, knowing there would be a camera involved. the other one (yes… me) LOVED to pose for the camera… mostly because it made her happy.

    they have become equally resistent to my attempts so what i tend to do, it take the ones of them being stupid and avoiding and what-not, until they break down laughing and THEN – gems! genuine smiles, genuine sentiment, because they get to a point where they can't fake it or pretend or hide anymore.

    that or i sneak up on them.

    either way, patience my dear. tons of patience.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_macrina/6608998783/in/photostream

  47. This picture makes me wish I knew what he was thinking about.I couldn't believe it today — the sun came out and it wasn't dark at 4 pm. So, we went to the park and found the biggest slide we could.This is one of my favorite family photos– it's my niece and nephews, the day before my oldest nephew went off to college.yeah, probably easier to get them in front of the camera when they're younger, but it's hard for me to get them to actually sit still and not make faces. that is, unless they're in the middle of something already.