dreaming of spring
Little darling, curious girls with golden curls, green grass, and baby chickens. It's hard to beat the afternoon light shining on these perfect subjects. A...
Read more
Little darling, curious girls with golden curls, green grass, and baby chickens. It's hard to beat the afternoon light shining on these perfect subjects. Amazing to watch them both grow up!
Read less
Read less
Dec, 2015Views
4736
Likes
Awards
Winner in Chickens Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Kids Being Kids Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Simple And Beautiful Moments Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Spring 2016 Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Love it
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
MarilynDavies
August 28, 2020
Congratulations on your win in my "Chickens" photo contest. This photo holds so much joy and interest. Thanks for sharing.
PRO+
PRO
Platinum
PRO
marycassitydittman
March 09, 2023
Absolutely adorable. This young lady will treasure this forever. Great job!!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in the overgrown front lawn of my house! It's tough to transport baby chicks, so I had my girlfriend bring her toddler over to play in the sunshine where I could safely manage the baby birds, AND the toddler.Time
Late afternoon. I love the warm light of magic hour - and I'm not a morning person, so I tend to shoot later in the day.Lighting
I just wanted this to be natural, bright, and casual. I didn't even opt for a reflector - as chasing a baby bird and a toddler means lots and lots of movement.Equipment
This was my simple, go-to set up - my 50mm 1.4 lens. I happened to shoot this using my old workhorse backup camera, a D300. I am a full-frame shooter as a rule of thumb, but sometimes you grab what you have.Inspiration
Photographing toddlers is an exercise - in every sense of the word. They do not have the patience for posing, directions, even bribery typically falls flat. When I have baby chicks (or a kitten or a dog) they're a great foil for a busy kid - they help direct the attention and focus, and leave me with a very adorable, casual, portrait.Editing
Just a simple crop. I have played a few times with removing that awful blade of grass, but it's never quite right.In my camera bag
Nikon D800 and D700, Sigma 50mm 1.4 ART, Sigma 24 mm 1.4 ART, Nikon 80-400, a CPL, a 6 stop ND filter (hello, throwback to my landscape days!), batteries, memory cards, and a Snickers bar. I primarily shoot with my 50mm 1.4 - it's a pretty ideal lens.Feedback
Don't ever be afraid to get down in the dirt (literally) with your subject. Kids love bugs, birds, animals, flowers - you put a kid in a pile of wildflowers, or put an animal in front of them and you have instant interest - and a darling way to shoot your subject that's fun for them, rewarding for you, and leaves their parents with really beautiful images of their child being delighted by the world around them. And, if like me, you have lots of animals you can use as subjects, make sure you're constantly aware of THEIR safety, and needs, and always, ALWAYS have the parent nearby to wrangle if necessary, and *always* have an assistant to help you keep the animal safe too - it's too much work to take the photos AND play Sargent Safety!
