ptg999 Envisioning Family A photographer’s guide to making meaningful portraits of the modern family TAMARA LACKEY ptg999 Envisioning Family A photographer’s guide to making meaningful portraits of the modern family TAMARA LACKEY Envisioning Family: A Photographer’s Guide to Making Meaningful Portraits of the Modern Family Tamara Lackey New Riders 1249 Eighth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 510/524-2178 510/524-2221 (fax) Find us on the Web at www.newriders.com To report errors, please send a note to [email protected] New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education Copyright © 2012 by Tamara Lackey Project Editor: Susan Rimerman Production Editor: Tracey Croom Developmental/Copy Editor: Anne Marie Walker Proofer: Liz Welch Indexer: James Minkin Interior Design and Composition: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design Cover Design: Aren Howell Notice of Rights ptg999 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected]. Notice of Liability The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it. Trademarks Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-80357-3 ISBN–10: 0-321-80357-4 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in the United States of America I dedicate this book to my very own family. I love the promise of you. ptg999 This page intentionally left blank ptg999 Acknowledgments It would have been exceptionally difficult to write this book if it weren’t for the culmination of all the portrait sessions I’ve photographed in the last near decade. For that privilege, I thank each and every one of my clients. I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned while staying focused on doing the work. The experience of growing up as the only daughter, the middle child, in a family of five taught me much about how family shapes us. It may have taken me a while to understand it, but the connection of the pieces of my childhood to my resulting personality quirks certainly makes a great deal more sense to me now. Thank you brothers. Thank you mom. Thank you dad. It turns out that we are consistently offered the opportunity to learn more about who we are and why we may feel alone at times, but it seems to very much be up to us to connect the dots. What I’ve learned building out my own immediate family is a significant contribu- ptg999 tor to how I photograph families today, which is the cornerstone of this book. How each of us learns to care for each other—our sameness, our differences, our individual experiences inside the whole of family—is challenging, beautiful, and unending. I am so very grateful for Steve, Sophie, Caleb, and Ana Elisa. If each member of my family weren’t so different, I wouldn’t be able to understand such a wide variety of my subjects to the extent that I do. Living with people while making a living photographing people is like being surrounded by open textbooks at every turn. The effort of producing this book was very certainly not mine alone. Thank you to our book designer, Kim Scott. Thank you to New Riders Press and my insight- ful editors, Nikki McDonald, Susan Rimerman, and Anne Marie Walker. I wrote this book while in the midst of a great deal of travel, contributing to it from at least ten different states and two different countries. My editors’ abilities to keep things streamlined were extremely helpful in not just keeping me on track, but in keeping the overall structure of the book on track. Because I wrote in waves over the course of the year, this was not an easy task for anyone. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v My studio manager, Sarah Coppola, was unquestionably a key player in convert- ing text into clean formats and constantly reorganizing a multitude of photo- graphs. In the midst of a rather intense year, I so appreciated knowing I could just hand off the words and images to her and she would take care of the rest. I also want to thank Kate Burgauer, my production associate, who offered me some excellent writing prompts one long summer morning when I remember feeling particularly stuck. Sometimes we just need a peek at what could be next to be able to start to get there. And if it’s possible to thank the act of running, I want to do that. There were more than a few occasions when I stared at a blinking cursor for far longer than I want to admit. Lacing up, zoning out to music, and moving relentlessly forward for a few miles seemed to consistently bring all the words back into my head. . ptg999 vi ENVISIONING FAMILY This page intentionally left blank ptg999 Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv SECTION I The Meaning of Family…Photography 1 Exploring Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Intriguing History of Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ancient Legends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Creationist First Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Evolutionist First Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Making of a Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 How Family Shapes You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 ptg999 Birth Order Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Only Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Birth Order Effects on Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Breaking from the Mold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 What Makes a Family Today? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 2 Waiting on a Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The Baby Room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Preparing for Our Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Waiting for the Attachment to Kick In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Breaking Down the Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Seeing the Belonging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Adopting in Ecuador. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Working Through the Adoption Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Introducing Ana Elisa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 About the Orphanage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 To Have and To Have Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Why Family Photography Matters: A Case for Redefining the Genre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 viii ENVISIONING FAMILY SECTION II Gearing Up 3 The Overall Kit: What’s in the Bag . . . . . . . . . . 45 Preparing for the Shoot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Packing Your Bag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Choosing Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 What’s in My (Camera) Bag and Why. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Lenses in the Bag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Flashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 ptg999 Powering the Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Video Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Reflectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Memory Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 4 Setting Up a Working Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Shooting Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Lighting Kits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Down Low or Up Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Backdrops and Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 The Look and Feel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Additional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 A Studio Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Backup Gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Back Up the Backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Tripod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Client Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Production Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 CONTENTS ix