I've got 2 kids under the age of 2 years. In order to keep shooting without risking divorce, I've compacted my "system" as much as possible (one camera/lens, Zing case with strap, film in pocket). I take it almost everywhere and shoot whenever I can.

I have no trouble taking dozens of photos of my kids, but I'm still trying to keep other subjects in the finder. I'm finding it very hard to keep a creative attitude going and I'm looking for any helpful ideas.

I've had good luck with just my toddler in the backpack, wandering around markets and the street, but now with an infant as well it's almost impossible to get "in the zone", even for a few minutes, even with my wife helping out (she's truly great).

Any ideas?
Thanks

-- Asher Schachter (schachter@a1.tch.harvard.edu), December 21, 1999

Answers

Whenever I get in a rut shooting the same subjects, I try to spice things up a little by shooting from all kinds of angles. Up, down, tilt the camera. Stuff like that. Now is the time for you to let your imagination run wild. If you have a wide angle lens, stop down and get real close to the baby and put the older of the two in the background running crazy or whatever. If you don't have a wide angle lens, tell the wife you gotta' have one or you'll hold your breath till you turn blue.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), December 21, 1999.

Sorry, no ideas... I'm impressed that you manage to take ANY pictures at all with two kids under 2!

In looking back over my b/w negs of the last decade, there's a 2-year period in which I only developed A SINGLE ROLL of b/w film... and it corresponds precisely to the time when my son was a toddler/just- beyond-toddler and my daughter was a newborn/infant/toddler! Between keeping the kids from continually injuring themselves/destroying things, trying to keep from getting fired at work, and still keep the house going while in the little-to-no-sleep zone... well, it was a grab shots with the p&s only scene there for a while!

Hang in there and do the best you can. I found that once my youngest made it to about 4-1/2, I didn't have to watch them continuously anymore and I could shoot a lot more...

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com), December 21, 1999.

... and people keep telling you that this is the best time: they are as cute and easy to handle as they will never be again.

Seriously now: Being a father of only one daughter, now 6 years old, my problem is somewhat less grave, and is actually not a problem any more.

Wife and kids come first! If they can't let go of you, try to feel good about it, because it shows they need and love you. They won't be so young and demanding forever. When my daughter was so young, my Minox 35 was always with me, the Nikon (then only with one 35 to 105 mm zoom lens) only joining it occasionally. Most of the shots I made were of my daughter. During that time, I shot only little b&w, because it was quite convenient to have the colour material processed by a lab. I hardly went to the darkroom at all.

When my daughter grew older, she became interested in what daddy was doing with the funny black box in front of his face, and I let her shoot herself at times. For her 5th birthday, I gave her a p&s, though not a kiddie camera, but one with a particularly big viewfinder.

Today, she has gotten used to leaving me alone for a moment when I start fiddling with my meter, camera and tripod. Sometimes she plays photographer's assistant, handing me things from my camera backpack, at other times she just enjoys the freedom of hopping around and examining her surroundings.

I guess the bottom line is that you have to put up with some limitations for a while, but it won't be forever. You might also look for compromises, such as not taking any camera at all at times, but asking to be given freedom in return at other occasions. This helps to get your kids accustomed to the thought that you have some rights, too. A little timeout is sometimes a booster for your creativity afterwards.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), December 22, 1999.

Thank you for the benefit of your collective experience. I would never put my photographic interests ahead of my family- just trying to keep the hobby going without compromising my role as a father and husband.< p> I like the idea of using a mini-cam. I've dug out my Olympus XA, a nice aperture priority RF that fits in a shirt pocket, and I've already switched over to lab-processed chromes for the most part.Maybe this temporarily hectic schedule will stimulate novel photographic approaches.

-- Asher Schachter (schachter@a1.tch.harvard.edu), December 22, 1999.

Here's the good news. When you leave the US, your kids become an asset to photography. I take mine (now seven) everywhere, and have been since he was two. In many cultures, children are respected (it's called family values) in a way they aren't here, and you will get invited into homes and have photo opportunities that would never exist without your kids. Even here in the US, I have found that having a kid along lets me work in areas I couldn't without him. Think about how to have them help you instead of working around them.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeffs@hyperreal.org), December 23, 1999.

Asher, to sound somewaht simplistic - start feeling and stop thinking. I have gone through the same thing and in retrospect have found that some of my most "important" work was done within the same situation. Get hold of the simplest camera you can find ( Yashica T-4 is not a bad choice) and respond to those truly once in a life time moments from your heart. The "zone" is there, its only in a different location than you might be use to. What I am trying to say is that it might be a time for you to begin to look in,rather than outside your family. EG.- what's it like to be raising a family in the year 2000 ?

-- jim megargee (mvjim@interport.net), December 23, 1999.

I discovered that taking pictures of children can be challenging but rewarding. The most effective way is to play with them and take photographs at the same time. Get down on all fours if needed and work on their terms not yours. Let them be themselves. This is less of a problem than with adults. A 50mm lens for the 35 mm format can give you effective images. I like to use a 50 and a 105 mounted on two Nikon FM2N bodies using available light.

-- V. Nair (chettu99@tyenet.com), December 23, 1999.

Here are two suggestions: 1. Offer your wife a half-day to herself, in exchange for an early morning field trip on your own. You'll both enjoy the break.

2. Look at the work of Harry Callahan for inspiration. He seemed to do OK with his wife and daughter in tow.

-- Henry Friedman (friedlew@worldnet.att.net), December 25, 1999.

I know where you're coming from buddy, believe me. I have a 10 month old and a 3 year old and free time is in short supply. I treat my time as a precious commodity.

One habit I've gotten into is lunchtime shoots. I'm amazed at all the great stuff I've been able to shoot within a 10 minute walk from my office. I also take an opportunity to shoot whenever I'm on a business trip.

My wife and I trade off letting each other go out for walks and I usually take my camera with me. I don't remember the last time I had the luxury of a full day to shoot, but I've become a lot more focused with the time I do have.

-- Barry Schmetter (barrys@maxinter.net), December 27, 1999.

"I'm finding it very hard to keep a creative attitude going and I'm looking for any helpful ideas."

I've been close to posting this very same topic for a while now. I knew that others must be dealing with the same situation. I have a fiesty 2 year old and another due in Feb. I don't get much lab time in these days but I keep shooting and processing. These are memorable times and I don't want to miss any of it. I figure I'll deal with the printing latter. When I saw Mason's report on Winogrand having hundreds of unprocessed rolls when he died I stopped feeling bad.

As for keeping the creative attitute, all you need is a readjustment. An audience adjustment. When I got Arthur Elgort's book "Camera Ready, How to shoot your kids", I realized that photographing anything else was only to please myself and other photographers. Now my primary photographic goal is to assemble a book similar to Elgort's of my family, for my kids, my wife and myself.

I feel like all of my photographic exploits until now have been to prepare me for this project. Isn't creating a lasting and relevent body of work what this is all really about anyways?

I would love to keep this thread going. Some of the problems I'm having are keeping my son in focus. The kid moves like a rocket!

Best of luck Victor

-- Victor B. Soto (vgsoto@worldnet.att.net), December 30, 1999.

Hi Asher: I actually managed to do a fair amount of photography while "babysitting". Just had to change the subject matter. Here are some thoughts. I prepared by setting up two kits. One for bright light b/w and one for low light color (slides and 400+ASA). 1. We tend to not take children out when weather is bad. Invariably we go out on sunny days. I went to the beach alot. For this I liked using b+w with polarizer, yellow-red filters, low ASA film to take advantage of higher light (later can do high quality copies/blow ups). Used auto speed but manual F stop. The broad outdoor environments (beach/water/sky) always provided ops. using heavy red w/polarizer (love them clouds). Go early, stay late to get good diffused and angled light. Kids create wonderful shadows. It conveys their great energy. Children are small, angled light makes them look bigger as subjects. Turn kids lose, pre-focus to their field, use a long lens ("so camera will stay out of the picture"), don't let them know your taking their picture. When not taking their picture, look at the sky. Sea-birds, grass and sand looks great in b/w near sunset.

Kit #2: Where else do you take kids, indoor events. Prepare to deal with color and low light. I use ASA 400-1200 here. Embrace the grainyness. Example: Take children to circus. Golden light under the big top. Low levels. Great photo ops. The subjects are looking up. Stretches the face, enlarges the eyes. Throw in AHHHOHHH. Great feeling in faces. They are also distracted. Everyone was watching the show, while I watched them. Kids and grandmoms. Got alot of great shots.

Wherever I go, as soon as I sit down, I prefocus where I think action might be and then put the camera away. Saved me many times if your trying to catch action vs still life. With kids, the greatest happens in seconds. Was at a picnic, young child had ice cream?? on him, when he sat down near-by, I prefocused, a minute later a butterfly landed on his hand. WOW! Of course the kid wanted to eat the butterfly. I got it(the cute factor part, not the eating part), whole thing lasted 10 seconds. The parents of the child would have given me their car for the film, I gave it to them.

Since you have to take the kids somewhere, go where you have never taken pictures before. I've taken my son to places that I thought would be fun/educational for him and photo ops for me. Examples: Old fashioned train rides, castles, mansions and gardens, boat rides, kite flying contest, toy train conventions, science fiction meetings and bug dispays at the museum.

If all else fails, get on the ground, climb a tree, follow your kids for awhile and see if looking through their eyes stimulates some creativity in you. Wish you luck.

-- David Lilly (EarthAbides@att.worldnet.net), January 05, 2000.