I n getting acquainted with my new Canon 7d, I am exploring several different disciplines of photography. I am interested in nature, sports, surrealism, macro photography, and high dynamic range work. Let’s add portraits to the list.
Meet Morgan. She and I slipped away from a wedding recently and played with my camera. Morgan is eleven years old and even though I am still a novice photographer, I knew that she was well beyond her years in maturity when it came to being in front of a camera. It was as natural for her as breathing. She was not coached at all, and as she just immediately started showing various emotions, I looked through my lens in amazement – and anxiety. I was nervous because I knew this moment wouldn’t last. The sun was dropping and I had pages and pages of information zipping through my head about how to best capture this moment. My flash was off the camera and I needed to adjust the flash compensation to get a soft look. Was my aperture too shallow? What about ISO? I felt like a three year old holding this camera.
“Do not switch to auto you amateur – don’t do it,” I told myself.
Luckily for me, little Morgan is absolutely stunning and her beauty made up for any flaws in my technical decisions.
Hello, Portraits!
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