Last tip mix it up very everything very everything so every time I've got a shot the reason I'm constantly moving is I think the most interesting collection of portrait's are ones where there's a quite a variety across the board it's hard to deliver an animal a slide show I deliver every one of my sessions via an emoto but every single time I dio a slide show it's going to be delivered cash it takes me about six minutes to put together which is awesome but it's like sixty seventy images and it's really hard to deliver and a motive slide show where it's just variations of the same boast like that's not a lot of emotion there like same clothes everything but if you have a whole story where you have this ark your indoor you're out there you're different outfit you're on the ground you're running you're playing by the time you're done with an entire very session and you're delivering that took line it's interesting it's captivating it's a lot more emotional andi I want to deliver a collect...

ion of images that way so a couple examples this is or in the woods this is on she's a senior and were photographing her saw the sliver of light coming through this is the shot as it would be normally in the camera this's about how the day went but I saw sliver of light that number had won a block but I moved her into it and then I just did my settings so that I would s o that I would I can actually tell you the setting differences can't I? Yes, I can. All right. So, um the only difference between these two shots are my settings and one's black and white ones color but there's not a lot of difference and photoshopped to these it just happens to be that guy had his hard light coming through that I used and then I had this natural even lighting that I used in this image is a shot with a nine hundred, eight hundred eighty five one four lens at one one twenty fifth of a second f three two and s o six forty with this shot, I'm now switching it up tio eh? I eso won sixty because she now have moved in this big, bright, shocked delight, right? So I've dropped my ass so down to one sixty mm f four five and about one, two hundred of a second. So, um mimicking like what I would use in a hard light in the studio but use using an outdoors these air back to back shots, but they're really different they're different fields and everything it just has to do with how you're lighting it with natural light on dh how you're presenting it um beautiful little girl that I have photographs and she was a crazy little toddler love her same exact shot we've got her up against these sort of those azaleas. I don't know what a culture I just eat plants don't name them eso we've got her like this and she's just kind of position yourself just kind of a cute, sweet look on dh, then a moment later, she's thinking about something, right? But to me, these two shots are very different, they're processed a little differently, they feel very different and I am not gonna have my client try to decide between the two of these necessarily because they're just so different, they're just kind of different looks and feels the same thing just a little bit of a variety she's just laying there, waiting for me to set up putting the lights together and then I'm just going to move back, change the lens and shoot again. So even though these air right next to each other, they're different feels this one's going to be delivered in black and white and be kind of dreamy, you know, this was going to be fun and silly and color outside on a shoot little girl in the sunlight, really fun, three shots in a row within seconds of each other, we've got this, we've got this, we've got this so what I'm doing is we're not doing these big, dramatic things. Thes they're tiny little shifts as we go, but we're adding a lot of variety in the chute that teen I think I showed you earlier. This is us getting ready. This is her just kind of closing your eyes and as a moving things around this's the image she wants, this is them. Did her parents want, you know, a break? Clean color, full face that's, my girl, that kind of difference out in getting the kids ready. It is a little about me down there getting the kids ready to do a shoot, putting them on a very high wall with a net behind them. There was a net behind them. Uh, is very high wallop here and then just doing nothing else. But changing the lens starts changing the focusing, stepping in closer and changing the lens again. This combination is super common for may. I go really far back, I go closer and change lens. I go closer and change lens and I've got a good amount of variety in a really easy kind of step. Step step, lastly, is have a whole family here. This is beautiful, whole family shot. We've got them up against this kind of dark light, so we've got some light coming behind them, so it's not all swallowed up. They let the kids go, the kids run around behind, and I turn and look at a whole different shot, which is just cracks me up. But you're looking for these things, right? You're mixing it up, you're adding a lot of variety. I'm not gonna have them choose between this in this, because they're just totally different.

Class Materials

Free Downloads

Children and Family Photography Syllabus

Adoption Myths and FAQs

Tamara Lackey Photographing Eyes in Portraits

buy this class

$00

Buy Class

Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2000+ more >

79.7K Students

99% Recommend this Class

00 Student Work

0 Video lessons in HD
00h 00m of class content
Exclusive bonus content
Lifetime access, anywhere, anytime
Streaming access on desktop and mobile browsers
Download and offline access with class purchase
Offline sync with our iPhone & iPad apps
100% satisfaction guarantee

Tamara Lackey

Tamara Lackey is a renowned portrait photographer and Nikon USA Ambassador whose photography has appeared in a multitude of media outlets, including O Magazine, Men’s Journal, Good Morning America and on The Today Show. She speaks regularly at quite a range of programs, seminars and conventions, from delivering presentations on the Google stage to leading private workshops around the globe.

SEE INSTRUCTOR'S CLASSES

topics covered in this class

Family & Lifestyle Portrait Photography Lighting Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student

Thank yo Tamara Lackey and Creative Live for such an amazing course. Every tool that is needed to maintain a successful business is in this course. Tamara's appreciation for love and family are so apparent in her style of interaction with people and methods of photographing them. In this class she shares everything from the basics of connecting with your clients to the importance of in person sales sessions and how to do them without being uncomfortable. I love Tamara's energy and sense of humor. She really emphasizes how important it is to be self confident and love what you do. This class is amazing. I can barely sit still through a movie these days, but I was entranced through 3 consecutive days of highly valuable information. I am thankful to have this class in my CL library. I am sure I will refer to it often.

Abbeylynne

Thank you! Thank you for bringing Tamara back to Creative Live! She is one of my favorite teachers! She has a bubbly effervescence as she teaches. I like her teaching style and never tire of her message in photography. Tamara has a way of working with her models/ clients that makes you want to just jump through the screen to participate in the process! Her portrait stories share her zest for life. She has great business ideas as well as for life and family. A truly balanced instructor for the beginning photog as well as a seasoned professional. Refreshing concepts about how to deal with challenging situations with lighting, posing, and interaction with her families. It's hard to pick a favorite section - the entire class was just great! A wonderful resource for your library to refer back to time and again. Keep up the great work Tamara. You inspire me to get out and shoot!

user-6a96fc

What can I say- it's Tamara Lackey, so of course it was AMAZING! I learned so much, about relationships, self awareness, lighting, portraiture, posing, gear, marketing, products, I could just go on and on. Tamara has an incredible ability to truly connect with her clients (and her students)- and she taught us how to do it! I admire Tamara on so many levels and I appreciate how much of herself and her own business practices she was willing to share. Her new organization Beautiful Together is inspiring. I will be watching this course over and over. Thank you Tamara Lackey and thank you CreativeLive.

2,000+ classes ranging from fundamentals to advanced techniques.

Top Tips: #5 Mix it Up. Vary Everything

Top Tips: #5 Mix it Up. Vary Everything

Lesson Info

33. Top Tips: #5 Mix it Up. Vary Everything

Lessons

Simple Posing: Young Girl

Simple Posing:Young Boy

Group Posing: Two Girls

Backlit Shots: One Girl

Shooting in the Shade

Using the Rule of Thirds

Review of Selected Images

Working with Self Consciousness

Training to Photograph Authentically

Talking Through Self Consciousness with Subject

ProFoto Strobes: 2 Light Sources with Pre-Teen Model

Stylize and Prep for a Shoot

Simple Family Poses

Use Props and Backdrops During Family Posing

Family of 5 Indoor Couch Scene

Natural Light and Strobes

Image Review of Family Photos

Use the Right Light for the Right Occasion

Ice Light Demo

Constant Lights Demo

Speedlight Demo

TTL Demo

Reflector Demo

Pose Children in a field

Build on your shots

Capture Motion in a Wide Open Field

Capture Splashing in a Lake

Photograph Movement with Fast Moving Subjects

Top Tips: #1 Simplify The Shot

Top Tips: #2 Small Posing Shifts for Maximum Effects

Top Tips: #3 Direct The Feel & Energy

Top Tips: #4 Be the Destination