On Family Photojournalism
First, I would like to state that I am by no means an authority on family photojournalism. I have only been shooting for about five years and everything I know, I taught myself through reading, studying, and spending a ridiculous amount of time in this very forum. The impetus for me getting into photography was when I took custody of my young nephew. I wanted ‘a good camera’ to document his growth. So I purchased a Canon Rebel 300D and a 50mm f/1.8 lens and shot that way for about a year and a half. Since then, I have tried virtually every Canon camera and lens. The large majority of my time behind the lens is shooting my family (wife, nephew, and two sons).
The following essay/tips/words are what I have learned over the past five years of photographing my family. I do not know if what I am doing is correct or conventional, but I am at a place where I am getting results that I want. Following, I hope to define family photojournalism and will share how I approach shooting in this manner.
Family photojournalism is chronicling the daily happenings of one’s family with a camera. Effective documentation should include photos of people, places, events, and emotions as they happen without staging the events. The end result of family photojournalism should be to give one’s family photographic evidence of how it ‘was’...not how you hoped it was, but how it actually 'was'. This approach is very different from portraiture or a ‘children’s session’. The major difference to me is that during a portrait session or children’s session, the photographers’ primary goal should be to flatter the subject. They should do everything in their power to make their subjects look fantastic…like they would look on their very best day. This approach is often contrived…photographers may bring additional lighting, direct the subject, pose them, etc. Family photojournalism, however, is about the capturing the moment over flattering your subjects. For those of us with families, we know it aint always pretty! But the ugly moments are also part of our lives. Effective FPJ captures it ALL as it happens.
I would estimate that 85% of the shots I take of my family are taken at either 35mm or 24mm. This forces me to get close and become part of the story. I am often engaged in whatever my children are doing (board game, waterballoons, sprinkler, reading books, etc). I am with them as a participant. I think this puts my children at ease…almost like I am one of them. It gives me ‘credibility’ so to speak. My main goal is to show my child being a child, therefore, I often want to shoot wide.
Here are some examples of my children engaged in activities of which I was a participant.
Hunting for tadpoles. 35mm:
Water Balloon Fight. 35mm:
I also want to capture ‘childhood’. This is when the kids are off in their little world doing the little things that make them ‘them’. Again, the following captures were done with either a 35mm or 24mm prime lens. The children were not instructed in anyway.
Painting in the kitchen. 35mm:
Bed Time Routine. 24mm:
I also attempt to bring my camera to places we go. It use to drive my wife crazy, but now its part of the routine. I bring my camera virtually everywhere (restaurants, carnivals, family events, etc). People have said to me, ‘Don’t you worry about missing the moment?’. I respond the same way everytime, “if I get it right with my camera, I get to relive the moment for the rest of my life.” I firmly believe that. Following are some photos taken in different locations.
Lucky’s Diner. 35mm
Birth. 68mm
“Does this mean I shouldn’t shoot portraits?” Absolutely not! In fact, I believe that in order to show the growth of your family, it is very necessary to do portrait sessions! But the mistake I made early in my photographic journey is that I ONLY shot these types of shots. So after about a year and a half, I had some really good portraits, but I missed everything else! The shots that I took could have been taken virtually anywhere. There was often no sign of where we were or what we were doing...the photographs were usually just 1/2 body portraits of my boys smiling. And while I still do this, I would say it makes up maybe 5% of my photography these days. I am much more interested in telling the story.
Portraits will show how the face/body changes over time. It is simply amazing how much a child changes in 1-2 years. For simplicity, lets look at portraits in two categories: environmental and normal portraits (full body, ¾, ½, and headshots). Environmental portraits are typically taken with a wider focal length (50mm and wider) and at times feature more DOF. “Normal portraits” are typically taken with focal lengths longer than 50mm. Both types of portraits often include eye contact and they are both typically posed.
The first example is what I would consider an environmental portrait. It is of my son while we were hunting for tadpoles. I looked for an area in the creek that would show my boy in his environment and instructed him to stand there. Shot at 35mm:
The second example is a normal portrait of my nephew. This was shot at 85mm. He was instructed on how to stand and where to look.
Tips on improving your family photojournalism:
1. Where are the sweet spots for light in your house?! I know that I get great afternoon light in my living room/son’s room/my room and great light in my kitchen and bathroom early in the day. Be sure to turn out all other lights in the room and work the natural light. This may require you to up your ISO, but again, its all about the moment and not flattery. So noise is ok.
2. Choose a wide focal length and get close. I STRONGLY recommend shooting wider than 50mm. My house is TINY, so I need 35mm and sometimes 24mm in order to get enough of the scene in the frame.
3. Be a part of the action. You gain instant ‘credibility’ when you are ‘one of them’. You are not a threat. Get your family use to the camera by bringing it when you are participating in events.
4. Bring your camera everywhere. Make it the other member of your family. You will not miss any moments!
5. Have fun with it!
A friend and I have started a blog with this post in mind dedicated exclusively to "Family Photojournalism". Check it out at www.thefamilyphotojournalist.blogspot.com
Chuck
PS: This post works better with more images, but I was limited to 8 links. To see the modified version of this post with more photos go to this link: http://thefamilyphotojournalist.blogspot.com …y-photojournalist_04.html
