How I Got the Shot: Featuring Sarah Zimmerman

"When I photograph children, I tend toward utilizing natural light. This photograph was taken in March, so it was too cold to have Karina outside. We did a number of pictures in her playroom, which had toys and some items in the background. It was also a brightly lit room, so lighting was good. But I wanted something a bit more moody.

I noticed that there was beautiful light coming through a window in the dining room, and brought Karina there. Her mom was preparing for Karina’s birthday party – an under the sea theme – so there were fish decals on the dining room table. We decided to prop a decal in the window, pictured left of frame. For the first few pictures in the series, Karina was happily distracted looking at the decal, but I was struggling to get her to look into the camera. I got mom and dad to stand behind me and get Karina’s attention. The whimsical placement of her hands was candid, and only lasted for a few seconds.

What I like most about this picture is the beautiful light coming through the window onto the one side of her face, yet also the shadows that remain on the other side of her. Immediately out of frame (on right) is the dining room table, and behind me is the foyer. I also like that the wall behind her has some detailed moulding and that the blue in her dress is – ironically – complemented by the wall color.

Often, when photographing little ones, you simply need to have patience – patience for the ‘decisive moment’ (a term coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson) and the perfect expression. After a few frames of Karina in this spot, I realized it offered a natural and simple setting for a beautiful child portrait. We ended up taking a few pictures here with mom and dad in the photographs as well.

I simply used the light available from the window and preferred the moody photographs I was getting, light on one side and shadows on the other. I was able to take the picture handheld, as the shutter speed was 1/320. Photographing little ones is one of my favorite parts of my job. Catching their expressions and their reactions to parents doing crazy things behind me brings me much joy." —Sarah
Get your free Hallmark Institute of Photography catalog HERE

Check out more of Sarah's portraits: sarahzimmermanphotography.com/

Perfect lighting and composition. Good job Sarah!

Nicely done. I hope Hallmark keeps that feature going.

Kelly cook

I love this shot. This posting has been inspirational.

I think the framing could have been done so that less of the curtain showed - it makes the photo seem crooked, although looking at the background it isn't. There are framing issues with some of the other photos as well - in the one on the beach it looks like the photographer's shadow is showing on the blanket, and others seem like the subjects are cropped (or the photo is) at a somewhat awkward place. The description sounds like it was done by someone who is still learning and developing skills which might be the case since it's on a website for online courses. 

Yeah, I"m not loving this. The only aspects I care for are the expression and hands.  She's adorable, but this image doesn't do her justice.

The vantage point is too high, and makes the image look crooked because of the angle of the curtain (as stated above). That reference point should be cropped out, which would also get her out of the center of the frame.

The starkness of the single light source creates way too many shadows for me. When does a child need "moody"? Especially with that expression? There's a real disconnect emotionally between her face and the rest of the image, IMO. Taken together it just says "snapshot" to me.

But people will see what they want to see, and if mom and dad are happy, then great. But I don't see this is warranting a tutorial.