My wife and I recently took our children to the local pumpkin patch. During this trip, I mounted a GoPro Hero8 to the top of my camera, a Nikon Z6. I wanted to capture the process I use to document my family’s adventures. I want to share my thoughts on light, composition, and camera settings I use and share them with people like me.
I am passionate about photography. Candid photography, the visual documentation of our family’s day to day life locks these precious memories into my mind more than anything else. I can remember the moment I took these photos. From July 2011 to July 2012, I took one picture a day of my first born, from her 1st birthday to her 2nd. Looking back at that year, I can remember every moment of my daughter’s incredible growth.
As time marches on and my photography develops, I reflect on that experience from time to time. During that time, I developed a skill to watch and predict precious moments. From this skill I have realized the power of a well timed, well composed candid photograph. Parent’s will know, its almost impossible to pose a 1-2 year old. When you look longer, wait, and capture a candid of someone, you have the opportunity to capture their personality in a fraction of a second. One step further, you have the opportunity to show someone how beautiful they are. In my experience, people see themselves differently in a mirror than when they’re captured loving their children, spouse, or any other cherished activity/person.
During my “365 Day Project” I learned to observe and wait for a laugh, a look, or facial expression that is unique to her. My oldest daughter has the most expressive eyebrows and her smile lights up our world. I can almost hear her laugh when I look at a photo that I captured of her laughing. My middle child has an exaggerated facial expression that radiates from her mouth to her gorgeous eyes for every emotion. My son is a goldmine of non-verbal expression. He exudes joy from the tips of his toes out his beautiful blue eyes. Photographs give you an opportunity to appreciate a moment forever. If that moment is your children’s personality, you’ll cherish it forever.
Take a look at the video below. I am building a YouTube channel sharing this information so parents can capture for themselves what staged, posed photoshoots cannot. Thank you so much.
Ryan Branscum 