CES 2013: Three Children's Photography Tips from Jack Reznicki

This year was my tenth visit to CES, and while I still love looking at all the latest products the thing I've been taking more advantage of at the show is all the free learning. Many of the companies, especially the companies that sell products to people who make things, offer demos that turn out to be more like master classes. For photographers Canon offers some of the best of these lectures, and one of them this year was from one of their "Explorers of Light" Jack Reznicki.

Jack is a professional photographer who is well known for his images of children, and while many of these children are professional models he still has to use plenty of "tricks" to make the image he is going for. These are what I think were the top three tips he spoke about that most parents (or anyone taking pictures of kids) would want to know.

1. NEVER TELL KIDS TO SMILE
   This is pretty much the opposite of what all of us do as parents when we're trying to take a photo of our kids. But Jack explained that when you tell a child to smile, what you get is a forced, unnatural smile. He said to instead look for how kids are reacting to what is around them. Tell them a joke, come up with funny phrases ("fuzzy pickles" was one he uses) or ask a funny question like "Are you married?". Basically don't don't be afraid to be silly and do whatever it takes to get the reaction you want. A photo of a child laughing is the natural smile that's going to make the best photo.
2. IF KIDS ARE CRYING, LET THEM
   You don't want a child to get to the stage of uncontrollable, red-faced bawling, but often you can get uncomfortable tears to go away if you just let them cry for a little bit. You can also use that opportunity to take some photos of them crying or upset, because the image you don't expect can often become your favorite.
3. TELL THEM TO SPIN
   This one was my favorite trick he gave in the lecture. Taking pictures of children standing up or sitting down can be static and boring, but in the lecture Jack showed some great images of children that he had made by asking them to spin around. After one quick spin around he'd take the picture of them off balance (and often laughing because it's a funny thing to do) and the images looked really fresh and fun. Check out this image from his website.
4. BONUS TIP! - IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHEERIOS
   Babies love Cheerios. If you're trying to get an image of a baby who isn't doing what you want them to, introduce some Cheerios in the mix. Jack had one image of very young children looking down into a doll's crib, but what you couldn't see is that they were looking at a doll's crib full of Cheerios. He showed another with a small toddler walking to a woman not because the woman was the child's mother (the woman was a model) but because the woman was holding a hidden Cheerio in her left hand. It's a trick for sure, but the proof was in the images.

Check out Canon Explorer of Light Jack Reznicki at his personal portfolio site Reznicki.com or at his Explorers of Light page at USA.Canon.com

CES 2013: Three Fun New Party Products from ION

Again at CES this year ION was showing some really cool new products for older kids, parents or both. Their booth location this year definitely improved, and judging by that it seems like they are a company on the right track in the post iOS / Android world.

The Party Rocker is their attempt at making a party in box. A great solution for amateur DJs, it connects to your device via Bluetooth (or AUX IN) and also has a microphone input for karaoke or MCs. It also has a glass dome on top that projects light in sync with the music you're playing. The Party Rocker sounded great on the show floor and seemed like the sort of thing a college student would love. It will be available in the Spring of 2013 and will retail for $149. (It's smaller cousin the Road Rocker is available now for $99.99).

Maybe the coolest thing I saw at ION was the iDJ 2 Go Plus. For anyone who has played with DJ apps on the iPad (especially the amazing DJay from Algoriddim) it can be a little clunky to operate just using the screen. The iDJ 2 Go Plus puts every control the app requires into a real switch, knob or button and should make rocking any party incredibly easier. The "Plus" means that it has an Apple Lightning connector and should be available in the Spring for a MSRP of $99. Seriously, wedding DJs have never had it easier.

While this isn't a "Party Product" per se (at least any party I'm comfortable talking about in this blog...) the Sound Splash Bluetooth Splash Proof speaker seems like a great idea. Not only does it let you listen to Bluetooth audio off of your phone, it also lets you take a phone call while you're still in the shower. I wasn't able to hear the speaker quality at the show, but if I can get my hands on one I'll write a complete review later.

CES 2013: New Cases and Adapters from Olloclip

The Olloclip is my favorite accessory for the iPhone - more than any case or adapter. It's a deceptively simple little gadget that slides onto the corner of your phone and allows you to choose between three different lenses for your camera. With it you can make all sorts of images that you wouldn't be able to create with just the phone and an editing app.

But the Olloclip only works on an iPhone without a case. While this isn't a huge deal I have found it to be vexing at times, especially when I'm trying to capture something that my kids are doing. At CES this year they were showing a prototype case to address this issue. The cases have a hinge over the part where the Olloclip attaches to the phone which allows an Olloclip user to quickly put the accessory on and start taking pictures.

More importantly for parents perhaps was another product they were showing - an iPod touch (4th and 5th generation) adapter (also pictured above). I doubt I'd ever buy an Olloclip for my kids, but I can definitely see getting an adapter so they can experiment with mine on their devices as well.

Both products should be available sometime in Q1 of 2013. There has been no price determined as of this time.