Family Photos at the Park with the Taylor's

Family Photos at the Park

We recently had the opportunity to hang out with Jessica and Jonathan Taylor and their gorgeous daughter, Gracie at their local park for some family photos at the park. Quite fortunately, we were blessed with stunning golden hour light at the end of a beautiful Spring day. We spent about an hour playing with toys and exploring the boardwalks and play-set. Jessica and Jonathan contacted us looking for some casual, candid images of their family enjoying themselves to display in their living room, and this approach seemed to be the perfect solution. With Gracie still being quite young, like many children, her attention span on any one item is short. So we kept her occupied with a number of different activities, while allowing her to be herself, and largely ignore the camera. We also try to keep our distance and use longer focal lengths, not only for pleasing images, but also to aid in the children forgetting about the presence of camera. Thanks for the great afternoon and the many laughs. We hope you enjoy the memories and the photographs.

Some Technical notes for Photographers

Most of the images posted below were taken with Canon’s amazing 85mm f/1.2L USM lens mounted to their EOS 5D Mark II body. The depth of field when shooting this lens at wider apertures (and yes, it’s sharp right out to f/1.2), is incredibly shallow. I love how this is displayed in these first images. Take a look at the sliver of wooden railing that is in focus above Gracie’s head. The is no blur added in Photoshop, only only a very mild amount of sharpening to help with web-sized viewing. For this type of shoot I love to switch between the 85L and the 70-200, as it allows me to stay slightly further away from the kids and give them some room to play for themselves without having a camera in their face. These days children are so used to having cameras around that they tend to always stop their natural play and pose for any camera that they see. Keeping your distance helps them to forget about the camera and get on with the business of being a child and exploring the amazing world around them.

Family photos at the park