The best way to get better at something is to practice it often. I've taken to bringing my camera with me whenever I depart into the outside world, probably to the discomfort of my close acquaintances. Luckily, they've been very supportive.
I recently photographed my friend's two-year-old daughter, getting her in focus proved to be quite the challenge. The fun part of candid shots is that they don't have to be perfectly crisp, sometimes the imperfect ones lend to the subject, as more often than not, a toddler will be tapping into their wellspring of forever energy.
Heidi is a sweetheart. The first time I met her, she looked at me like I was the devil. Since then she's rather warmed up to me and has proceeded to turn on the doe eyes with abandon when her will is contested. Not that I generally mind being manipulated by a small bundle of cunning, it's just so hard to deny her when she turns on the charm.
The entire time I was shooting, she shyly shuffled around with an occasional giggle bubbling past her lips. Multiple times she would reach forward with her sticky fingers to fondle my lens, leading to some blurry "come hither"-esque photos and me neurotically dodging to avoid fingerprints smears.
As her mother was preparing their family dinner, I sat in the living room with Heidi to watch her favourite movie, Rio. I'm a sucker for children's films and had yet to see it, so I was just as engrossed with the story as she was. Luckily, I decided to pester her a little more with the camera and captured a sequence of emotion that only little kids seem to manage. The film had reached a point of conflict in the plot, causing Heidi to go from blissful mumbling of song syllables she's retained on to fear, sadness, anger, surprise, happiness, then intent focus in the span of a few minutes.
That unguarded reaction and expression is something we eventually grow out of as adults, so it is refreshing when you get to see a child show their exact feelings so plainly. It doesn't hurt to be damn cute while doing it, either.
Her favourite part was to look at the pictures of herself on the small display screen on the camera. After a few minutes of posing for the camera, she would exclaim "baby?!" and clamour into my lap before any rebuttal could be issued to flip through the recent shots. It was so much fun hanging out with my friend and her daughter, I can't wait to invade their home again soon.
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