Boys and tractors...living in Devon, England, these two things seem irreversibly entwined, and its no bad thing, especially when it comes to photographing pre-schoolers.
This is Archie. I had the pleasure of photographing him in his Papa's vintage tractor. Like all little boys his age he was on the tractor quicker than I could get my camera out of the bag, but that was no problem as he was happy to oblige and remain seated for as long as required.
Living in rainy Devon does mean that photographing outdoors is a bit of a lottery, fortunately mother nature cooperated and gave us some glorious sunshine. The tractor had been positioned the day before, taking into consideration the time of day it was to be needed, so thankfully the prep work paid off.
All this said, getting children to look towards the camera, no matter how cool the prop, is always a challenge, Mum Sarah was great help, as most parents are, and played a skillful game of "silly faced peekaboo" behind my head when smiles and giggles were required. This is always much better recieved than if I myself pull funny faces, the looks on the childrens' faces are always softer and smiles come more naturally when in response to a parents gest.
We also had time for a stroll and wander around the garden, Archie was keen to show me Daddy's workshop, which had this beautifully aged wooden door, a perfect backdrop for Archie to show me his best superhero impressions. This is always a great hit with boys and girls alike, and makes them naturally move their bodies into interesting shapes and positions which photograph really well, just make sure you're ready with your camera and that they're positioned in front of a good back drop before asking them, the first minute of poses will be the best and most enthusiastic and you don't want to miss it.
All in all I think you'll agree Archie rocked his photoshoot, and I was left with a new found respect for the humble tractor...quite a photo prop it did make!
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