Skip to main content

Children and Family Photography

Lesson 44 of 58

Tamara's Gear: Accessories


Children and Family Photography

Lesson 44 of 58

Tamara's Gear: Accessories


Lesson Info

Tamara's Gear: Accessories

Other things to consider is kind of accessories this is the nikon sb nine ten flash you saw me using this yesterday I would normally run around in a field with the flash on simply because of the weight, the heft of it but when we're shooting much later than we thought that's what ends up happening on dh this a product likeness or something like this? The flash under two not the flesh under two thousand again, it allows you to bounce light where you are as you're going that is quite nice it's not the bulk of the shooting I normally do, but you get that great option if you want it and you saw the pro photo b two's in action you saw the west got spider lights and actions that we're all part of my gear kit something like this to be able to add to your dslr to simply be able to give you significant, more audio ability. If you want to do any sort of video clips as you go so you can just put this right on your camera plug and play just put it right in and then be able to hit record on your ca...

mera and video can suddenly be that easy it does make a difference in terms of being a boost the audio input that you have when you're playing it back later and I know sometimes people feel like video can be a little overwhelming or even intimidating, but when it becomes that simple and that straightforward that's kind of a lovely thing, and so you can use an animal a slide show, for instance, we're just at some point where the kids remember me saying when at one point the kids were laughing so much like a wish you could tag that to a photo. Well, this is how you d'oh you just stop and say, ok, they're having there on the ground collapse and they can't stop laughing, so I'm gonna flip video, record some of this and then just added in a couple sections during the anthem of the slide show, for instance, it's just a little thing, and it has a big emotional impact, it's something that you can dio I'm probably right with you guys and I don't do that a lot, but every time I do, I'm so grateful I did so that's another accessory simple things like, you know, card readers having an ability, tio, manage all your cards. I love that the mac books all have the smart card. It was called smart card sd card thiscause sd cards are they when you say yes, I called a smart card, which is not right um I love that the sd cards could be go right into the mac book that's the easiest thing in the world but not all cameras take thes deeper restaurants and does not use that they use the compact flash cards or the new york art models and in terms of cards I end up using a combination of I ten years, mostly lexar, but I also have sandisk and I'll use the extreme the fast reader, right? Because again, if you're using those burst knows you want that, you know what your camera jamming up on dh for the most part, I'm using thirty two gig cards I have a few more sixty four gigs have invested in recently, but for the most part nearly everything I'm shooting with other thirty two good cards this the's cases it's get air deep gp is the brand I'm going to say get it because it sounds like that big more sense these are awesome because and I have a ton of these that house all my cards and they hope how's the various orientations of cards so you can have your compact flash cards and your sd cards in there regardless because I know some only hold one version of the other and this holds everything but the best part is it's sealed and it's weatherproof and I have absolutely had one of these slide out of my backpack well on a shoot and that she was over and I left location. It was an arboretum in chapel hill, and I got home and I'm downloading everything I'm like, where is that card? And I went back to the thing walked all the way around every location we shot at, and I found it wedged, andersen leaves under a tree like this, and it was kind of a wet kind of experience, but everything was fine and safe, and I thought it could have rained there for two days, and I probably would've been okay with these so the's weatherproof kind of protective cases could be very, very helpful. Also, zip up your cards every time you put him away that it makes more sense. Um, it's funny, I think I talked to a lot of people who feel like when they make mistakes like that, like things drop or they lose their lenses, or that means that somehow that they just don't have it together. I do that all the time, and I'm not gonna say have it together, but you can still be successful at your business, even when you do those kind of things just learn as you go, and then in terms of bag, this is probably the bag I'm using the most right now when I travel, uh, this is the think tank navigator, I'm pretty sure I think that sounds right on dh what's. Nice about it is. I was looking for something like this for a long time because I do travel for work. Like I said, I had to back to back shoots in new york and baltimore before we came here. And I don't want to bring ah holding and whole laptop bag and a whole roller bag. This allows me to put all my gear in here. You can put the lenses and the cameras. You can just place them right in. Uh, literally. This is how I do it most of the time with a lens on the long ones first and then just lay it in and you have two ways to open it. You can open it up top or you can zip this and put it on its back and opening on the side. So if you look at the interior, the bag what's nice about it is you can put a long lens right here with a camera attached. You can have obviously alternate spaces. This normally comes banded ins that when you open it, you can only open it so far. But I found that to the annoying, so I took off the bands on dh, then inside here you have your laptop packet pocket. So you can not only slight in a laptop but also your court and a couple extra drives if you want and then you have a locations up here for your cards and more locations appear for things like when you're traveling, I throw in my boarding pass and I d and credit cards or something so it could just have access and then obviously you can kick it up and down this goes on airplanes really well, it does not go down airplane aisles really well that's a bummer it's about this this to fit too wide to rule that a lot of especially regional jets so you have to kind of pick it up and pull it, but it does stuff under the seat in front of you, which is a gosh I've had probably for some reason I would say three of my last ten flights someone's tried to take it from me when I'm boarding and saying no, you can't remember all we have to check it and I will never be parted with this because I will watch them flight around with the luggage and toss it everywhere. So I always say, well, let me just give it a try and every single time even on the tiny jets it's shoved underneath the seat in front of me, which is great s I do appreciate that on dh so this allows me to have kind of this whole kit, everything you see here isn't here a complete with the laptop and external drives and and my court so that's really nice and at, um, home if I'm just rolling after a simple portrait shooting, of course, I don't need all this. I will either grab kelly more bag or a low pro backpack on go out with just that that's. Okay, because that good that's great that's a great overview. Any other questions about gear before we start sliding into workload? Yes. It seems like you use the camera body straps that just come with the cameras. Is that the case? Or do you ever use any additional like padded straps? Are pan straps or any a thing like that? Very good question. I when I photographed weddings and I had the big old honking camera in the big old honkin linds, I would come home again with rope burns on the back of my neck. I'm guessing some people have had that experience and it's painful, so I switched to the really, really soft kind of almost like a little snugly pillow. Well, I don't know the brand of it is, but it had this the stretch and really soft protector around the back of your neck, and I use that for a while, but then when I stopped doing that I feel like overkill felt like it was like too much on me on. But I went back to the simple straps. So that is what I do. I just used the straps that come with the gear. But I know that there's that's becoming a new form of expression in photography strap you so there's, a lot of cool stuff out there.

Class Description

The best family portraits are those that capture the true spirit and personalities of their subjects. In Children and Family Photography, Tamara Lackey will teach you how to photograph individual children, sibling groups, and complete families in an authentic and exciting new way.

Tamara is a celebrated family and lifestyle photographer. In this class, she’ll teach you how to beautifully light, pose, and creatively photograph children and their families. 

You’ll learn about:
  • The gear that’ll help you get you great shots
  • Which lights to use and when to use them
  • How to integrate the location into the shoot
  • Digital workflow and album design

Through instruction and demonstration shoots, Tamara will share her top tips on posing and lighting and she’ll teach you how to get everyone into a great group shot. You’ll also learn about what goes into her sales sessions and how she handles prints and portrait albums.

Whether you are a parent who wants to take better photographs for the family album or an experienced photographer hoping to expand into the family photography business – this class will equip you with the insights and skills you need to produce photographs that feel natural and look great. 


  1. Simple Posing: Young Girl
  2. Simple Posing:Young Boy
  3. Group Posing: Two Girls
  4. Backlit Shots: One Girl
  5. Shooting in the Shade
  6. Using the Rule of Thirds
  7. Review of Selected Images
  8. Working with Self Consciousness
  9. Training to Photograph Authentically
  10. Talking Through Self Consciousness with Subject
  11. ProFoto Strobes: 2 Light Sources with Pre-Teen Model
  12. Stylize and Prep for a Shoot
  13. Simple Family Poses
  14. Use Props and Backdrops During Family Posing
  15. Family of 5 Indoor Couch Scene
  16. Natural Light and Strobes
  17. Image Review of Family Photos
  18. Use the Right Light for the Right Occasion
  19. Ice Light Demo
  20. Constant Lights Demo
  21. Speedlight Demo
  22. TTL Demo
  23. Reflector Demo
  1. Pose Children in a field
  2. Build on your shots
  3. Capture Motion in a Wide Open Field
  4. Capture Splashing in a Lake
  5. Photograph Movement with Fast Moving Subjects
  6. Top Tips: #1 Simplify The Shot
  7. Top Tips: #2 Small Posing Shifts for Maximum Effects
  8. Top Tips: #3 Direct The Feel & Energy
  9. Top Tips: #4 Be the Destination
  10. Top Tips: #5 Mix it Up. Vary Everything
  11. Top Tips Q&A
  12. Family poses in a field
  13. Posing: Family of 5
  14. Dads and Daughter Family Shoot in Field
  15. Posing: Parent/Child Pairings
  16. Why Tamara Was Drawn to Family Photography: Beautiful Together
  17. Adoption Interview with Vicki Taufer
  18. Lackey Family Adoption Experience: FAQs
  1. Tamara's Gear: Cameras
  2. Tamara's Gear: Lenses
  3. Tamara's Gear: Accessories
  4. Mylio Demo
  5. Digital Album Design
  6. Sales Prep Process
  7. Photo Review With Client
  8. Selected Images and how to sell them
  9. Closing out the Sale
  10. Professional Photography Pricing
  11. Start Your Business
  12. How to Market Yourself
  13. How to Stay Inspired
  14. Photoshoot Recap
  15. Tamara's Top Tips Recap
  16. Tamara's Tools Recap
  17. The Importance of Family Photography


a Creativelive Student

Thank yo Tamara Lackey and Creative Live for such an amazing course. Every tool that is needed to maintain a successful business is in this course. Tamara's appreciation for love and family are so apparent in her style of interaction with people and methods of photographing them. In this class she shares everything from the basics of connecting with your clients to the importance of in person sales sessions and how to do them without being uncomfortable. I love Tamara's energy and sense of humor. She really emphasizes how important it is to be self confident and love what you do. This class is amazing. I can barely sit still through a movie these days, but I was entranced through 3 consecutive days of highly valuable information. I am thankful to have this class in my CL library. I am sure I will refer to it often.


Thank you! Thank you for bringing Tamara back to Creative Live! She is one of my favorite teachers! She has a bubbly effervescence as she teaches. I like her teaching style and never tire of her message in photography. Tamara has a way of working with her models/ clients that makes you want to just jump through the screen to participate in the process! Her portrait stories share her zest for life. She has great business ideas as well as for life and family. A truly balanced instructor for the beginning photog as well as a seasoned professional. Refreshing concepts about how to deal with challenging situations with lighting, posing, and interaction with her families. It's hard to pick a favorite section - the entire class was just great! A wonderful resource for your library to refer back to time and again. Keep up the great work Tamara. You inspire me to get out and shoot!


What can I say- it's Tamara Lackey, so of course it was AMAZING! I learned so much, about relationships, self awareness, lighting, portraiture, posing, gear, marketing, products, I could just go on and on. Tamara has an incredible ability to truly connect with her clients (and her students)- and she taught us how to do it! I admire Tamara on so many levels and I appreciate how much of herself and her own business practices she was willing to share. Her new organization Beautiful Together is inspiring. I will be watching this course over and over. Thank you Tamara Lackey and thank you CreativeLive.