Student-of-the-Month
Kristen Herzel
Here's what Kristen has to say:
“I first started in photography about 7 years ago when my son Ben was a toddler. He was very active and it soon became clear that I needed to trade my point and shoot in for a DSLR so I could have better control. Though I had some in person lessons with Owen, I learned most of the basics online, through websites like I Love Photography and Digital Photography School. ILP, which is now defunct, was particularly helpful to me, but I remember feeling like such a misfit because most folks on that site did posed portraits, and I had so much difficulty getting my little boys to sit still for portraits. But when I posted photos of them just doing their thing, I got all kinds of critique about their dirty shirts or about how they weren't smiling at the camera. After a few years, my kids got better at sitting and I got better at portraits, but it was boring and stressful for all of us. And who really needs a formal portrait of their kids every few days? So I returned to shooting them just doing their thing, with a goal of finding the best, most interesting, way of capturing them doing their thing. Although my favorite website is defunct, I have met many, many photographers online and we follow each other, share photos, challenge and critique each other. Most of these folks are women with children, and I think most of us would call ourselves lifestyle photographers. One project I do off and on is a 365, where you take and archive a picture every day. Lots of days, of course, I couldn't go to a beautiful park or climb a mountain, so I took photos of my kids going to school, playing in the yard, playing with the dogs. Here's a sampling of those everyday photos."
Charming? Without a doubt! Lovely? Absolutely! Beautifully composed? Flawlessly so! Technically sophisticated? Totally! Full of heart? Yes!! What else can we add? Thank you, Kristen, for showing what gems everyday pictures of our children can become when we take the time, patience, devotion, and love that you put into these creations
Click on thumbnails to see full images.
