We are excited to welcome Unraveled Expert Artist, Martina Grose to the blog today. Martina is the photographer behind Wild Autumn Photo living in Clive, Alberta. Her work is warm, emotive, and full of movement. You can FEEL everything she creates. We are so excited to have her sharing her top five tips for photographing children outdoors on the blog today. Martina, thank you for being here and for adding so much depth and beauty to this community. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for you here and look forward to watching you grow as an instructor.

About the Author:

Hey I’m Martina Grose. A wife & mama to three kids living in Central Alberta. I’m a coffee lover chasing sunsets & finding emotion. I have been shooting families & couples for the last 4 years. But my inspiration & love for photography is when I’m shooting my children.

For more inspiration from Martina:

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Five tips for photographing your CHILD outdoors with Martina Grose

I’m most inspired when I’m in my field shooting my youngest daughter chasing sunsets or embracing overcast & wind. And I want to share with you my five main tips to achieve these shoots. While I am providing tips that are specific to working with my daughter, these can be used for documenting all children (boys as well)!

GETTING READY

Movement. I’m always on the lookout for outfits particularly dresses for my daughter, Zoey, that will allow for lots of movement especially for windy days. In fact most of her dresses were bought with that in mind. The longer the better & anything that the breeze will catch.
Simplistic. I keep it simple and try not to use too many props. If it's windy and sunny, we might grab a bubble wand to blow bubbles. If it’s sunny, we might grab a pair of big sunglasses for a vintage vibe.
Hair. With my daughter, I like her hair down because I want it blowing in the wind all the time, if possible. I also mess it up or have her shake her head if we don’t have wind. For boys, just having a carefree vibe is also best in my book! Mess it up!

WIND & THAT GOLDEN HOUR

Golden hour. That golden hour light is my ultimate favorite. It’s easy for me to know the perfect times to go out in the field with her and get the sun because it's my own field. However, there are phone apps that help with this if you aren’t familiar with the shoot location. The one I have on my phone is called Golden Hour.
Mess it up. When shooting in an open field, there will usually be some sort of breeze. If I don’t have wind and want the look of movement, I have her shake her head or I mess up her hair. Pretty sure she thinks I’m crazy when I’m messing up her hair. Even if it is just a few pieces across her face, it helps.
Backlight. When photographing Zoey, I almost always have her face me with the sun behind her. Be careful though (if you aren’t positioned just right), the sun can make or break an image depending how the lens captures it. You need some sun, not ALLl sun. The lower the sun the better.

LET THEM BE SILLY

Run free! Pretty straight forward. I let her run and she loves it. I’ll tell her run from behind me past me until I tell her to turn around and run towards me. All the while, I’m either shooting or taking a video. Not every image is great but there are definitely gems worth keeping. This allows her to feel like it is fun and not a chore ( most of the time! ) She’s having fun & happy which results in cooperation.
Mood. With that said, happy and “free” is not always the mood I am going for. If she’s grumpy, I’ll take it because in the end, all I want to do is shoot what shows her personality. And let's face it kids are not always happy! I enjoy documenting the real mood. It also provides me with diverse images of her.

WIDE OPEN

Lens. My 35 mm lens is my all time MUST. It never leaves my camera. I shoot wide open at 1.4 as much as possible because I like the look it captures.
Up close. When shooting my daughter up close, it focuses on her versus the background, which I love for portraits. Shooting up close also allows me to capture the emotion, mood and movement from her hair. Plus all those little details I love about her.
Far away. I even love shooting wide open when she is farther away from me. It’s how I’ve learned and adapted my shooting style. It’s my look now. Shooting with her has allowed me to try new things and if its blurry or “not perfect” I usually love it anyway.

BREAK THE RULES

Creativity. These sessions with my daughter are ultimately for me. A form of creativity that isn’t defined by rules. I honestly feel like this is the reason why I have no problem achieving at least one stand alone image each time we go into the field. No rules allow for creative freedom. I honestly feel there’s no cookie cutter mold for any photography. It especially applies to projects for yourself.
Do you. Break the rules. Be creative. Try new things. Push yourself. Be inspired. My all time favorite quote is from Sally Mann, “ Unless you photograph what you love, you aren’t going to make good art.”

And one last thing I want to add is PRINT. Print it big & hang it up on the wall. Be damn proud of your work. It is after all a work of art.