I was out walking at Gallaghers Canyon on Friday evening and noticed they were all set up for a wedding. It's a pretty nice set up for a wedding, with a great view. The only down side is that this is off to the side of one of the fairways and you literally have to cross the fairway to get there (not sure if they stop play?).

Wedding area, Gallaghers Canyon Golf Club, Kelowna, B.C.

Living Room, Henderson House, Father Pandosy Mission, Kelowna, B.C.

Kitchen, Henderson House, Father Pandosy Mission, Kelowna, B.C.

Close Up

It's important to realize sometimes an image can't be saved and you have to reshoot it. I am lucky the location is close by and I could re-create the image very easily. You don't always have this luxury. It pays to get it right, first time.

Photography enthusiasts may have heard of the Arcanum, a photographic learning experience where you are the Apprentice and you work under a Master.  The concept is there are 20 levels and it is self-paced and your Master guides you in your learning and provides critiques on your progress along the way. To sign up, you add a bio and add some sample work. There are no guarantees that you'll be selected by any Master, and it could be days or weeks before you are selected.

Level 4 Photo (Before)

The concept is rather unique and I so thought I'd try it. I thought it would take a few weeks to be selected, but it took less than a day (about 12 hours) before I was selected by Glenn Guy, an Australian travel photographer. Initially I wasn't sure it was a good match but after viewing Glenn's bio where he explains that travel photography is really a blend of portraiture and landscapes, I actually felt that it was a good match as those are the two areas I focus most of my work. I also learned that Glenn had formerly been a wedding photographer and was well qualified to give me critiques on my portraits.

Level 4 photo (After)

So I happily joined Glenn's cohort and have been working on my levels this past month. Currently I am Level 5 and have received my first critique. Critiques are recorded and are hosted on Youtube as private videos for reference by *any* Arcanum student.  This initial critique was extremely useful but in a completely unexpected way.

Yes, Glenn gave me compositional feedback and some Lightroom instruction, but what he did was help me figure out my motivation for photography and discover what I'm passionate about when making photos (by identifying a theme) and encourage me to follow that theme in all areas of photography. What is that theme you ask? Well it's hard to put into words - but here's my first attempt:

"Photography for me is about capturing those fleeting moments before they are lost forever. I specialize in child portraits capturing intimate childhood moments and landscapes capturing historic ephemera."

Today is Day 1 of Month 2. I am still a level 5. To progress to level 6 I need to submit 10 new or re-edited images. Currently I have 7 (one of those is the Level 4 photo After above). Most are landscapes or interiors, and I want to fill out the 10 with some portraits, but this will require a little bribery to get my children to act as my child models as they are too busy playing with their friends as it's Summer Vacation.

If you have any comments or questions about my experience so far, I'm happy to answer - just leave a comment!

Of course, J still won't let me take pictures of him, even at the pool. I'm not sure why he is this way as I've had a camera in my hand as long as I remember, perhaps he's looking for a bribe?

Tips for taking pictures of kids who don't want their pictures taken

1. Do it anyway (in the hope they'll give up resisting the camera).
2. Create a distraction or have someone create one for you.
3. Use a flip out screen, drop the camera away from your eye and frame the shoot, look at them not the camera and press the shutter. Don't worry if your horizon gets crooked like mine did. You can straighten in post if needed.
4. Use electronic shutter/silent mode. Yay for mirrorless cameras. Most have an electronic shutter option. It goes without saying to turn off the focus assist lamp and the focus beep too.
5. Take a picture without their face in the frame or where their face is blurry or deliberately obscured. Sounds weird but capturing their hands doing or holding something can still be a great memory.
6. Get them to decide the terms of the photo. Sometimes my kids want me to document a particular action, trick or skill. Anything is better than nothing, and sometimes what they do is amusing.
7. Chimp with them. Show them the great shots and offer to delete any that are less flattering, this builds trust when they see what you're doing and that you aren't going to embarrass them in some way.
8. Bribery.

Conclusion

Don't give up trying to take pictures of your kids, it's why many of us bought a camera in the first place. Try to figure out the limits of what you child will allow and always think about how else you might be able to get a shot, even if it means being a little sneaky.

Digging around in my photos today, I realize I haven't posted the photos from the Kelby photo walk last fall. The day started off a bit wet, but soon dried up although the clouds remained for the whole day. Entrance to the beach area from the Dolphins.


The obligatory waterfall picture....

Macros are always an option when the weather is bad.

Time for some tilt shift. I love the way the boats look so small.