Baby Love Photo Challenge

To celebrate the twins' first birthday, I wanted to hold my first photography challenge...the topic is ALL THINGS BABIES! I want to see all your cute babies and your great captures. The only rule is that it be a photo that you took.

And who better than Mandy at A Sorta Fairytale to judge this challenge? She's a pro photographer who who has mastered the art of capturing the most adorable photos of her little one-year-old, Bennett.

To help us with this challenge, I asked Mandy to share a few tips:
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Mandy, I'm so excited to have you as the guest judge for my first photo contest.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Gosh I am bad at describing myself. But I guess I am best defined as a Wife, Mother, Professional Photographer, and Blogger. My family and I live in WA state. It's very pretty here but the rumors are true, it rains, a LOT. Which makes it hard to get out of the house with my rambunctious toddler, but we make due. I am very blessed to have been able to quit my full time job, to pursue my dreams of being a full time Mommy to my baby, and growing my photography business as I have. Both make me extremely happy. As well as my personal blog... I have met and been inspired by so many wonderful bloggers!

How long have you been in the photography business and how did you get started?I've had my photography business for about 2 1/2 years now! Knowing how much I loved Photograph, my Husband bought me my first DSLR camera for my birthday 3 years ago. I dove right in to the learning process. For about 6 months, I just practiced, practiced, practiced. And then once I felt comfortable and confident with the skills I had acquired - both in taking photos and in post-processing, Mandy Chiappini Photography was born.

How do you manage to get those adorable, focused shots of your now mobile toddler?Oh man! It's tough. Trying to photograph a 15 month old is no easy task. I have sort of just learned little tricks to get his attention. I will sing, make noise, tease him with a treat or a toy. Anything I need to do to get him to hold still, even if only for a split second.! I keep a quick shutter speed (when possible) and I'd say that probably 2/30 photos turn out to be usable :)

When preparing for a family photo shoot where you know there will be toddlers, what tricks do you have up your sleeves to keep them engaged?Same as I mentioned above. I ask families to bring their favorite toy or noise maker. I've even resorted to dancing around like a goofball, and sometimes even bribe them with some candy (with permission of their parents, of course). But one thing I've learned to accept, and I definitely set these expectations to my client - is that you can't expect to get a lot of smiley, looking straight onto camera shots when a toddler is involved. It's just a fact of life, that with young children, you're lucky to get a few good shots of their face. Most of the time, they're running away!

What’s in your camera bag? If you could pick one lens and one lens only, which would it be?
You can see the contents of my camera bag, HERE. And my favorite lens of all time is my 50mm f/1.4!! Hands down. It's crisp, clean, does well in low light, is awesome in creating a shallow depth of field and is overall the best portrait lens I've ever seen.

What is a favorite image of Bennett you've taken recently.
Darn it, do I have to choose just one? I have two! (One below & one above)These both really represent his personality. One minute he's totally my happy, goofy toddler!... and the next minute... meltdown. Ha ha. Typical for a 15 month old? I think so.Lastly, do you have any general advice or tips to share for getting that perfect shot?If you have an SLR camera, get your camera off of AUTO and start using MANUAL mode! Learn the basics (i.e. exposure triangle, composition, focus... et). And course, learn how to use the available natural light, you will be so much happier with your photos once you can achieve a good straight out of camera shot. And be sure to check out the Q&A section on my blog for some tips!

Thanks so much Kari, for having me! xoxo
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Now let's see your cuties! The linky will be open from 4/21 - 4/27. only rule is that YOU are the photographer (animals are babies too :). Please link back with my button.

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