Last month I had the privilege to photograph these two adorable sisters. We had originally planned to do an on-location shoot at their home, but the wind was blowing very strongly across the flat farmland, so at the last minute we opted to move things to a park in town. The nice thing about this shoot was the fact that we were able to do most of the shooting during the “Magic Hour,” which made for some amazing pictures.
I will say that one thing I believe to be mandatory when photographing young children is the presence of a parent. Kids will be kids, and trying to work with them as an outsider can prove to difficult if you are going it alone. Heck, trying to get my own three-year-old to cooperate during a shoot without her mother (my wife) present is about as difficult as getting your Congressman to listen your concerns. Fortunately, their mother was there the entire time, and she was able to entertain them, make them laugh, and (when necessary) keep them in line. An added benefit of having a parent close by was that I was able to use her to help hold a reflector which gave me the flexibility of having an assistant without actually having to take one along.
My setup was quite simple. I shot in all natural light with a homemade soft panel (more to come) and an easily-movable reflector, no fancy equipment, strobes, or costly overhead involved.
Check out the collection of portraits on Flickr to see more images from this shoot.
