Engagement Portraits - tips for great photographs

At the moment I have an engagement portrait as a free promotion with every wedding booking I take. These were taken at the North Wirral Coastal Park.

A number of clients have, with my encouragement, chosen to get this special picture taken on location. People have often chosen a familiar place of significance to them which has meant they have relaxed and enjoyed the shoot even more. O this day the weather was 'interesting' to say the least, but all three of us had great fun trying out different poses and sometimes getting a bit silly!

Getting your subject to relax is very important and it is worth finding ways of doing this even if it leaves a little less time for the photos.

People want quality not quantity, although that does not stop me taking many hundreds of pictures!

Photographing children - tips for great photography

With children your observation skills have to be spot on, you have to be patient and you have to be prepared to enter their world.

Children generally will not be posed so the best thing is to play with them and make the lens part of the fun. If they can forget the camera then you may also get those rare shots to lens too.

Also the best candid are often of children caught unawares and often as a result of the photographer being prepared to spend time on the basis of a hunch that an above average image is just around the corner because the situation is making one likely, weddings are a classic example where children are dressed up and looking for play opportunities in an environment which is not always child friendly.

Of course, there is always the time when it does not come off, but good professionals and amateurs are tenacious and just look harder for the shot next time!

One important point to make is that I also have an enhanced criminal record certificate (UK) to be able to work with children professionally. Always check with parents and children that taking their picture is OK before you start snapping. It has become a much more guarded world which has made it harder for those who would harm children, but it has also made it harder for the sincere photographer trying to capture a perceptions of the world without filters or anxiety.