There's just something about photographing children... {child and pet photographer Austin, TX and Santa Fe, NM}

When I tell people I am a portrait photographer who specializes in imagery of children and pets I usually get a crossed-eyed response from the inquirer who says, "Wow, you picked the two most difficult subjects!" As I've stated before, I don't feel like I've chosen any of this; it just seemed to fall into place. Don't get me wrong–there are many challenges that come along with this subject matter, but the rewards are indisputable. I have been photographing these two children, Derya and Arda, since they were born and I have an especially close bond with both of them. They are both such characters. I love how children's expressions are so incredibly varied and authentic; their reactions unfiltered. These children are no exception.

While it may sound cliché, I sometimes forget to breathe when I'm photographing children. This is true in part because I know these little tikes have a limited attention span and I need to act fast. It is also because I get deeply absorbed in their unique beauty–just one of the characteristics that I can only hope emanates in the photographs I am creating.

Norah Levine is an Austin based children portrait photographer and pet photographer. She photographs in homes and on location. She also travels to Santa Fe, New Mexico frequently for sessions. Please view her website for more details www.norahlevinephotography.com Images rights must be obtained in writing for any use.

 

Sibling Portrait Session {Children Photographer, Austin, TX and Santa Fe, NM}

On a recent family portrait session in Santa Fe I photographed Leah and her two very special daughters, Anna and Greta. It was a gorgeous fall afternoon; a perfect day to spend photographing two giggly sisters and their mom. I had photographed Anna and Greta twice before and I was really looking forward to spending the time with them. I have enjoyed watching them grow (through my viewfinder) into two little ladies with two absolutely distinct personalities. Artfully capturing these sisters as they interact brings me joy–and definitely gives me a case of the giggles. Anna and Greta's connection reminds me of the close bond between my sister and I. (Except for yesterday when she lovingly told me she was going to "mute me" while we were having a video conference call if I didn't stop talking). Having the ability to capture these images for not only mom and dad, but also for the children to enjoy as they grow into adulthood really makes me feel good about what I do as a professional photographer. Photographing Anna and Greta always involves playing. When I arrived to their home Anna was boinging away on her pogo stick and Greta tried to be shy for about a minute and a half before booting a soccer ball across the yard. Even Jack, their sweet dog has been warming up to me. After spending some time at their home both outdoors and also indoors, we headed to an area I had spotted on my ride to their house; a space nearby where the trees just oozed with fall color and the afternoon light was exquisite. I love the warm feeling of the late afternoon light and the way the girls seemed to fit perfectly into the scene with their contrasting purple dresses. I could spend days photographing Anna and Greta. I am incredibly thankful to be invited me back to their home again and again.

 

 

 

Norah Levine is an Austin based children portrait photographer and pet photographer. She photographs in homes and on location. She also travels to Santa Fe, New Mexico frequently for sessions. Please view her website for more details www.norahlevinephotography.com

A sisterly bond: children portraits by Norah Levine

There is something tremendously endearing for me about photographing two sisters together. I just love it. I have photographed these two girls together for two years and enjoy every minute of my sessions with them. They remind me of my sister and I many years ago–especially the freckles; my sister is speckled with them. I love the special bond these two share– the giggles exchanged; the silliness and play between them. The connection of sisterhood is like no other and I value the chance to capture this loving bond in my photography. These two are unique in character like you can't imagine but certainly shine together brightly. I hope that many years from now they look at these photographs and reminisce about their childhood together and perhaps giggle a bit over a glass of wine.

Norah Levine is an Austin children portrait photographer and pet photographer. She photographs in homes and on location. She also travels to Santa Fe, New Mexico frequently for sessions. Please view her website for more details www.norahlevinephotography.com

"Back in Your Own Backyard" Austin Portrait Session Part 2

It is valuable for me to know as little about who I am photographing before I meet them. I want to know as much as I can about interests, loves and personalities before I photograph anyone. While it isn’t a recipe for guaranteed success in a session, it certainly helps to establish an initial connection. This connection is imperative to creating any portrait-whether this portrait is of a 6-year-old girl, a 10-year-old poodle, or a 78-year-old man. I’d love to share a little more from my session with the three siblings here in Austin, Texas. The mother from my previous posting, “Back in Your Own Backyard Part 1” wanted photographs that had a casual, playful feel. She wanted something that told the story of her children at this special time in their lives. She expressed that her daughter had recently lost her two front teeth and that she wanted to capture her adorable smile and lively character. She talked about her sweet boys and that her middle child didn’t like to be photographed very much, but that he was just such a darling child with tremendous personality. I asked about oldest and Sandra painted a lovely picture of a helpful and adoring boy who I was very excited to meet.

When I am choosing a time to photograph children it most often revolves around when the children are the happiest and have the most energy. Of course, lighting is a vital part to creating strong imagery, but it doesn’t matter how gorgeous the light is if you’ve got a miserable child in front of your lens. Sandra and I decided to schedule the session for the morning hours after the children had rested and been fed their breakfast. The light in the backyard was dappled-meaning that spots of light were coming in through the trees. This can be difficult light to work with, but not impossible. With three children, I had to find ways to keep them from having large spots of light on their faces and bodies especially while photographing them together as Sandra had wanted.  One of the ways to work in this light was that Sandra cheerfully stepped in as my assistant and held a light diffuser to help with the spotty light.

When I had walked around the backyard with Sandra a week earlier I visualized some areas where I had wanted to photograph the children together. I thought the hammock would be really fun but on the day of the session realized it was difficult to get the children to stay focused as they tipped and turned in the hammock. I tried sitting on it with two of the kids and agreed with them that it was hard! They had a good laugh at me then. The ground below the hammock was muddy and their feet were quickly a nice shade of dark brown. After one round of unsuccessfully cleaning I thought, “let’s just embrace this mud,” and I asked the children to lift up their legs in the hammock as I clicked my shutter.

During most of my sessions I start with a vision or a few ideas. That vision and those ideas change and morph organically during the actual session. This happens for several reasons. Sometimes there are aspects of a location I couldn’t have anticipated, the light changes, the weather changes, or a child or pet isn’t in the mood for being photographed a certain way or in a specific location. Although I sometimes think it would be fantastic if all of my plans and visions were easily realized (why not?), I’m most often thankful for the need to be adaptable because other opportunities and visions arise.

Hopefully these images remind you of the warmth, inhibition and play of childhood. Perhaps it reminds you of your own “backyard” and of the unique memories that were created there by you and your family.

I’m happy to share some of the images that arose from this unique trio of children as they expressed their distinctive personalities, in their own backyard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Back in Your Own Backyard" Austin Portrait Session Part 1

The lyrics to Billie Holiday’s song, “Back in Your Own Backyard” have been inspiration to me…

That bird with feathers of blue
Is waiting for you
Back in your own backyard
You’ll see your castles in Spain
Through your window pane
Back in your own backyard
Oh you can go to the East
Go to the West
Someday you’ll come
Weary at heart
Back where you started from
You’ll find your happiness lies
Right under your eyes
Back in your own backyard…

I have fond memories of playing in my own backyard with my siblings… Making forts out of junk in the woods, running through cornfields, cart wheeling, tire swinging, “treasure” hunting and cherry picking.  I tell people I grew up on a farm. It was a farm to me. There were gardens, pigs, a barn with barn cats and mice, hay bails and fields of corn nearby.  My mom tells me now that it wasn’t really a farm, but just a rented farmhouse. Okay, fine.  This is MY memory though and I’m stickin’ to it. I love this photo of me with my gramma in our backyard.

I recently photographed three children here in Austin, Texas and I’d love to share a little of my experience with you. Their parents have asked me to respect their privacy and not use any of their names and so I won't be using their names.  Mom (we’ll call her Sandra) contacted me after seeing an advertisement in the Austin Kid’s Directory, a great resource for children services in the Austin area. Sandra and her family had recently moved to Austin and was looking for a professional photographer to create unique portraits of her three children. I gladly met with Sandra at her home and discussed my ideas and her dreams about portraits of her children during a pre-consult appointment. One aspect of concern for Sandra was the location for the portraits. She expressed that the house was a rental for the family and that she wasn’t sure if this would be a good location. Sometimes clients are unsure if their home and surroundings are suitable for photographing and I am always glad to take a look during our pre-consult and provide my suggestions. After seeing the backyard and talking with her about what it was she wanted in her photographs I felt confident that this location would work and that the portraits created there would be meaningful to her and her family.

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Consider that the portraits that are going to be the most valuable to you are the ones that are created in a space that is personal to you at the time. There’s no need to wait until you’re settled in your dream home or have the yard and house perfect. I am always going to help create images that are beautiful and meaningful to you. So your child just gave himself a snazzy new hair cut… that could be the PERFECT time to create portraits, in my opinion, because you’ll never forget this time in his life!  Okay, maybe you should wait a week or so, but my point is that these images are for you and your loved-ones and they are a creative document of who you, your children and your pets are right at that moment in your lives. When you look back at these images years later when your children are grown or your beloved pet has perhaps passed on, you have these images to put you right back in that moment. This is something I absolutely love and cherish about photography. I have images of pets that have passed and when I look at images of them I can almost feel their fur between my fingers and hear their bark or purr. I’m thankful for the ability of photographs to trigger these sensations and memories of my loved-ones.

This backyard turned out to be a perfect location for creating portraits of Sandra’s three amazing children. These images will trigger the memories of these children playing with one another in the dappled sunlight with blades of grass tickling their toes...

 

 

Portraits with children-the benefits of handing your camera to a six year old

There's a collaboration between photographer and subject that has to exist, in my opinion, in order to create meaningful portraits and positive memories of time spent together. No matter where I'm photographing–Santa Fe, Austin, or somewhere else–the collaboration between a child and the photographer is especially crucial.

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