15

Olivia, at 15

Wow. How do I have a 15-year-old now?

Last weekend, my daughter, Olivia, celebrated her 15th birthday.

We celebrated it at my apartment, with some no-back cookie dough balls.

For a very long time, Liv was my little adventure buddy, going with me to Asbury Park (when AP wasn’t like AP is now), never not wanting to be in front of my lens.

Asbury Park – 2009

Asbury Park – 2011

But, as she’s gotten older, it’s gotten a little harder for me to get her to sit for me.

2018

To be fair to Liv, though, when I DO ask, I don’t get the typical teenager eye-roll with a quick, curt “No.”

She at least humor dear old Dad. She’s good like that.

But I know it’s not her thing.

So, to get a good shot of her, I have to almost be a paparazzi. Get in and get out. Snap fast, snap true.

And get out of the scene right quick before the eye-rolling starts!

And use the smallest camera possible.

When she leaned over the her birthday cookie-dough balls, I had my Samsung A42 phone at the ready. Snapped off a couple of quick frames – she actually blew the candles out slowly, which gave me opportunity to get a few.

I pulled it into Snapseed, a Google Play app, for an initial edit in color, but thought B&W would look cool.

I think it does!

And, “lighting” it like this actually gave me inspiration for another shoot I have on the docket (but not on the schedule yet). I think I figured out how to light it. It won’t require 15 birthday candles but….something sort of similar.

In any case…happy birthday to my Olivia. She’ll always be my main photo model, not matter how old she gets!

© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2022

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Tags: Asbury Park, birthday, Family, Olivia, portrait photography, Portraits

• April 7, 2022
• Equipment, Family, Family and Kids, People, Portraits
• 1 Comment