This week’s interview is with Robin Johnson, a professional family and child photographer based in Farmington, Utah. Robin’s photos have a natural beauty, especially the family photos. According to her website, she was taught to love beauty by her father who was an artist and captured beauty in all that he painted. Her mother taught her to love people. This definitely shows. She went on to learn her technique working with other well known professionals in the field. Read on to discover a little more about Robin and her love of photography of children.

MBP: How and when did you get started in child photography?

RJ: My degree is in Graphic Design and so I ended up being the art director at a scrapbook company. As part of that role, I art directed the photography for all of their books. After working with a photographer for 3 years, I decided to try doing it myself, so I took a few photography classes in the community. I felt pretty good about my artistic skill but I was lacking a lot of technical skill with my camera. I studied to become a Certified Professional Photographer and that helped me so much. (It is through an organization called the Professional Photographers of America). I have also studied with Allison Tyler Jones, Monica Sigmon and Vicki Taufer. My first client was 1 1/2 years ago while I was still working in my home. I have had my studio open now for 1 year.

MBP: How would you describe your style?

RJ: My style is very simplistic and real. I try to eliminate as many distractions as possible in the picture keeping the focus on the child - their eyes, their expression, their face. But most of all, I want it real. Real joy, real emotion, real personality. Sometimes that comes without a smile and I am OK with that!

MBP: Do you prefer studio or “on location” photography and why?

RJ: Location is always my first choice. There is so much depth outdoors and so much you can do with the natural light. Studio is always good for babies and since I live in Utah, we do a lot in the studio in the winter.

MBP: Can you share a story about your funniest photography shoot?

RJ: I learned a cute technique from Vicki Taufer with kids. If they are really upset or can’t focus, put a small squeaker in your hand. Go up to the child and ask them if their nose can squeak. They will say no. Touch their nose with one hand and do the squeaker in the other and it looks like their nose squeaks. They think this is funny and will usually calm down. One day I tried this with a little girl and it worked - she stopped squirming, but then she would not stop touching her nose the whole rest of the shoot!! We barely got any photos that did not have her finger pushing down her nose! It was hilarious.

MBP: What about your most difficult photography shoot?

RJ: I learn a lot from difficult kids. When my very first client came in, they had a new baby and a 3 year old girl. I bent down to the little girl when they arrived and said, “Are we going to have fun taking your photo today? She looked at me and yelled “No!” in my face. I was completely caught off guard and didn’t really know what to do. We tried working with her but she would never look at the camera. When we tried getting their family shot, she didn’t want her mom to sit by her and tried to push her mom off the couch. In the process, the little girl actually fell off herself and it was so amusing I kept shooting. It is one of my favorite shots to this day! I finally gave her some glasses to put on and she went into her own little world. I got some great glasses shots too. There is always a bright side even during the hard shoots.

MBP: How much time do you spend editing photos to make them production ready? What types of photo editing do you do and using what software?

RJ: For a typical shoot, I take 200-300 images. It will take me 1 hour to go through and narrow it down to 40 or 50 that I show the client. Out of those 50, I will edit my top 10 favorites using Photoshop. I do basic editing to the rest of them in Lightroom. This usually takes about 2 hours. Once the client chooses their images, I edit all of the final images in Photoshop.

MBP: What type of camera equipment do you use and why?

RJ: I am a Cannon girl, but I know Nikon brands are great as well. My main camera is a Cannon 5D, with a back-up camera that is a Cannon 30-D. I use a 70-200 lens a lot but use my 24-105 for close-ups. Outdoors I supplement most of my light with reflectors. If I need a flash, I have a 580 EX Speedlight, and a 430 EX too. I diffuse the flash light with a Gary Fong Lightsphere, or an umbrella.

MBP: What advice do you have for parents who are looking for a professional child photographer?

RJ: Make sure the photographer likes children. Many photographers do all sorts of photography because they need the work, but not all of them work well with children. Parents can also do a lot to help the shoot be successful. I often ask the parents to relax during the session. If they are tense and uptight and worry about how their child is behaving, their child will become tense. No one wants to get in trouble getting their picture taken!! I encourage parents to let me just flow with their kids personality and often that is when we really capture true expression. We also have a treasure box kids can choose a prize from when we are done. My goal is to make the photo session fun for everyone. Then they won’t dread coming back!

We would like to thank Robin for a great interview. Be sure to check out her website www.RobinJohnsonPhotography.com and see some more of the amazing photos in her portfolio.

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