Motherly Love
Apr, 2016Views
205
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
Legendary Award
2020 Choice Award
Magnificent Capture
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Emotions
Happy
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at my sister's house. I've been trying to improve my photography, and being in her house that's filled with lots of natural light made for a great learning experience.Time
My sister and my then five-week-old niece were walking around the house, and my niece plopped her head on my sister's shoulder. My niece looked exhausted, but still so content and comfortable. I immediately grabbed my camera to capture a special moment between a first-time mom and her new baby. The shot was taken at 1:15 PM in late March.Lighting
I wanted soft, natural lighting to complement the relaxed, quiet moment. The perfect amount of light streamed in from floor to ceiling windows on the left side of the frame. Enough light came in to illuminate the subjects without blowing any highlights or shadows. I really liked the look of the light falling into shadow, so I didn't make any changes to the subjects' position or to my own position.Equipment
This was shot with a Canon Rebel T3 and an EF-S 55-250mm lens. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
This was my first time seeing my niece, and the first time I saw her with my sister in their house. They live across the country, so I wanted to capture as many special moments as possible before having to spend months apart. I didn't want to have my sister pose for the photo, so I was keeping an eye out for any photo opportunities to present themselves. Sure enough, as afternoon rolled around, my sister was carrying her exhausted baby out of the dining room. Luckily I had my camera ready at this moment when their growing bond as mother and daughter was on display.Editing
I took this photo in color, and while I loved that version, I felt like the color took away from the expressions on the subjects' faces. I decided to convert it to black and white and made some basic adjustments in Lightroom and added a vignette and a touch of sharpening.In my camera bag
I got a Canon 5D Mark III a few months ago because I wanted to upgrade from my Rebel T3 and Rebel SL1, so that is always in my bag. If I could only bring one of my lenses with me, it would be my 24-70mm because of its versatility and quality. I also usually have my 100mm macro lens, 50mm lens, and my Lensbaby Velvet 56, but will pick and choose based on my needs if I'll be needing to carry my bag around a lot. Sometimes I borrow my mom's 70-200mm lens (until she asks for it back, because I love it so much!) as well. More must-haves: extra batteries and memory cards. I learned my lesson the hard way when I didn't have any extras of either and missed out on some great photo opportunities.Feedback
If you're looking to shoot indoors using natural light, try to get a sense of where the light is and how much of it there is throughout the day. Cloud cover can make a huge difference in the amount of light as well. In this case, I couldn't really plan out where to be at any given time, because I wanted to capture natural, unposed, and unplanned moments. Sometimes you have to be willing to put aside your desire to find the perfect light or perfect setting. Let yourself take some potentially "bad" shots in order to capture a moment that isn't planned or posed. In my opinion, the moment you're trying to capture matters more than the lighting and surroundings. Some of my favorite shots of mine and of other photographers' are those that have emotion tied to them, even they're not technically perfect images. Connect with the people around you. Eventually that connection will translate through your photos.
