Schumacher Family

One of my friends asked me to take some photos for their Christmas card.  The hope was to get pictures of the 2 children together.  This, however, turned out to be a little tricky.  William is a busy boy.  Which is great! Just a little difficult to catch with the camera. We did manage to get one shot of them together and each of them with at least a little smile.

When we scheduled the photo shoot I was a little worried about the weather so I wanted pick a location that would have some covered areas.  I picked Willamette University.  I have always driven down State street and admired the old buildings there with their beautiful covered areas over the doors.  Turns out Dad Schumacher went to school there.  So even better!  I went about an hour early to scout the campus.  Wow, what a beautiful campus.  I never realized what a treasure was right in the middle with the Mill creek running through.  I also found a little Japanese garden behind one of the buildings. The first building I took them too had a large covered area and in one corner someone had done an art project of some form.  There was an old novel sitting on the sill and cut out of it were butterflies.  The butterflies were stuck to the brick wall and they looked very beautiful.  I though the kids might have fun finding all the butterflies and the lighting was nice in there too. 

A few butterflies were harmed in the making of these photos.  Sorry.

Running from one location to the next.

I loved this doorway.  The only problem was the 10 stairs leading up to it combine with my 52mm 1.8f/ lens that doesn't zoom in or out.  So I was kind of limited in my movement and couldn't get far enough back.  I need to get better at switching lenses quickly.

Still happy with a few of the shots there though.  The kids liked squeezing into the little spaces on each side of the door.

In the Japanese garden.  I figured one way to keep an active boy in one spot for just long enough to take a picture was to put him in a tree.

I have mentally precessed this experience and have started thinking about props/activities for next time.  I have seen a few photo shoots from professionals that have brought cute cups of hot chocolate for the kids to sip on as they snap away or a cut out of words for them to hold or even fake snow to throw in the air and play with.  Mom Schumacher said she would give me some more practice.  Next time at her home letting the kids play or do a family activity.  I think this is a perfect idea. 
I just need to practice taking pictures when I can't control the lighting as much as I can when I choose the outdoor location.  Might even have to pull out the flash for some practice bouncing light off the ceiling or a white poster board for reflecting. 
So much to learn, where do I start.  Or more importantly, where do I stop!  This hobby can get expensive and time consuming.