Shutter Mike Photography

Portrait photography has never been my strong point.  Admittedly one of the biggest reasons for that is my comfort level (or lack thereof) with photographing people.  As a result I have never put much effort into developing portrait skills.  But it is one area of photography I have always wanted to push myself into and at the very least become comfortable with it.

Anyone in the same boat and with an interest in improving both their portrait photography skills as well as polishing up on their social skills I came across a great photography project, 100 Strangers. The premise is pretty simple, we learn best by doing.  The goal is to approach 100 people (no time limits, its not a race or competition, but a method for improving your photography) and make a portrait of them that tells a story of who they are.  The story telling means you can work on your photojournalist skills as well since you need to learn a bit about your subject and convey that through their portrait (as any good portrait should do).  The photos are posted on the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

I have not taken the plunge into the 100 Strangers project yet, but I am toying…

My regular photography focuses on buildings so a 2 1/2  year old is a good way to mix things up.  Granted on the day these were shot it was about 110 which is good for (slightly) slowing down a toddler but results in a lot of sweat in both the subject and the photographer.

If you do portrait photography of children you know how hard it can be to keep them focused on the camera.  And it is not easy to hold a toy or other object over the camera while you are trying to capture the moment.  That is where Camera Creatures come to the rescue.  Dapper Dog and Outrageous Owl fit over the lens of your camera freeing up your hands and giving the kids something fun to look at that happens to be in the exact spot you want them to look.  At $24.99 each (on sale through 12-9-11 for $19.99 each) these are a good investment for anyone photographing children.  They also make a great gift for a photographer on your holiday shopping list.