Emily looking out at the water from the dock at Oxford Furnance Lake at sunset.
My five-year-old daughter Emily loves taking pictures. Sometimes I am amazed at just how talented she is with a camera and it’s often a reminder to me to think like a kid behind the camera. She gets lost in the fun of it and doesn’t care at all what others think of what she creates. She shoots the photos because it’s fun and she shoots how she feels. Five-year-old’s are much more in touch with their feelings than us adults and I guess that’s why sometimes they have the ability to make better pictures. One of my greatest joys in watching her have fun behind the lens when she photographs others. It must be the innocence of a 5-year-old that makes people smile for her camera completely unguarded. It’s hard for others to feel you may have an agenda when you are making a photo at the age of 5. It’s pure fun and innocence and Emily knows the golden rule- Fill your frame, control your background. I admit it’s kind of a mantra in our house and she has known it since the age of two. Things got really exciting at the age of four when I heard Emily say for the first time “Wow, Daddy! Look at that light!”
Emily assisting me with a portrait at the cardboard boat race, Oxford Furnace Lake.
Emily laughs while picture hunting with Dad.
Emily fills her frame and controls her background.
Emily and I are adding more and more “picture hunts” into our daddy/daughter date nights and they are quickly becoming some of my favorite all time memories. Our conversations sometimes begin with photography “My lens isn’t long enough to see the bunny Dad, give me the big camera!” But, the conversation always turn to the important things in life. Conversations that roll off of our lips with love and curiosity and create memories for the ages. As the sun sets and we decide if we are going for ice cream or milk shakes and let our eyes dance for one more rabbit or see if the light will dance on one more flower I wonder if she knows what I know. We are smack dab right in the middle of the greatest days of our lives and we will always have the pictures to remember it.
Emily's photo of a bunny from the car window.
Emily's photograph of Oxford Furnace Lake
Emily's photograph of two guitar players.
Emily photographs her Daddy.
Portrait of Emily after a fun evening picture hunting and ready for ice cream.
Joe McNally photographs Coast Guard rescue swimmers from the water off the coast of Atlantic City, NJ.
Calling all Military Photographers!
Joe McNally’s One Day Lighting Workshops are back, and being held in Dobbs Ferry, NY, near NYC. Joe is offering military photojournalists a huge discount on attendance to his series of lighting workshops. This is a special deal (a serious special deal) Joe is offering to the military….
Check out the workshops here:
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/2010/06/03/the-ny-one-day-lighting-workshops-are-back/
If interested, email Lynn in Joe’s studio. lynn@joemcnally.com She will give you a code for military only. Pass this along to fellow military. The workshops are filling fast! Join us!
Portrait of Army Major Daniel Wood of the 55th Signal Company Fort Meade, MD.
I had an amazing time teaching the lighting team at the Department of Defense 18th Annual Worldwide Military Photography Workshop. The rapid growth of my students Shelley Gill, Sam Bendet, Mike Keller, Matt Freire and Eric Harris was an amazing thing to witness over the week and we accomplished more than I could have ever dreamed of with one week together. Our amazing team mentor Andy Smith set up some awesome shoots for us with the soldiers of the 55th Signal Company and a model in a abandoned Asylum. Along with my tireless assistant Doug Stroud, the hardest working assistant I have ever had the priviilege of working with, we were rocking and rolling non-stop and literally slept around 15 hours the entire week. The focus of our workshop began with the understanding of a BIG light creating a soft light and a small light creating a HARD light. We spent the week creating both soft and hard light and opened our minds to when they are appropriate.
Ray. The groundskeeper at Cannon Field across from our hotel. When the stadium closed, Ray relived his playing days for us.
By day three we had a team mantra and focused the workshop around it “Get through the HOW so you can get to the WHY.” In my experience as a photographer, we sometimes spend so much time thinking and shaping our light that we forget why we are there. The most important part of any shoot to me is the interaction, trust and relationship built with the people I am photographing. No matter how great or lucky I get with the light at the end of the day the photo is only successful if the person in front of the lens and me behind it are emotionally open to each other and willing to give ourselves freely to the photograph. Relationships were built with everyone we photographed during the week and we were able to take it to the next level by emotionally putting ourselves out there to make pictures.
Jay Gitomer focused on her love of kayaking.
The DoD Military Photographers Workshop is not only the place where my heart and mind opened to to my passion for photography 10 years ago it’s the place where I have met some of the most important people to me. People that have taken me under their wing and taught me a thing or two about photography over the years but more importantly about life. With each passing year behind the camera I feel more comfortable with my feelings and emotions and I am less hesitant to use words like love and passion when talking about both people and pictures. This workshop changed my life and opened my eyes to who I want to be, but more importantly, why. I am honored to pass it on.
My favorite student image of the week shot by Shelly Gill.
Thanks for stopping by.
