Fun Fest 2012

So, earlier in the year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone a bit and volunteer for one of the shifts to take pictures at our first school event of the year: the back to school picnic. I really struggled with it. It feels to awkward to take pictures of other people's kids, especially when their parents are standing right there.

As much as I struggled with it (I think I only ended up with about 15 pictures that I thought were usable), other people had nice comments and I did feel like I learned some things.

Since Fun Fest is a little busier--each elementary school classroom hosts a game booth--I thought this event might be a bit easier to photograph, and I was right.

I took a few more shots of my own family this time, but still not many.

I have been doing a good job of volunteering for the earliest shift, so that I have the light working in my favor, but I still have a lot to learn. Especially considering how fast these kids move!

I also have a really hard time figuring out how to get shots of kids looking at the camera without telling them to "smile" and look at me, but every once in a while I get one that works!

This was a shot of my students as they prepared to stand and smile for me. I like this one a lot more than the one of them with their arms around eachother looking and smiling at me!

I was glad that the kids were finally healthy enough to go, although Kennedy is still having her moments (see top picture!). She was very excited to see her friends again after almost a week without them! It's the simple things in life!