« More than the people | Main | Energy of a Child (2) »

Energy of a Child

Here are a few of my fave. photos from the last year that show the perfect emotion of a child.

There is no other subject out there that is as easy and difficult to photograph as a child.

Jason Palmer/Times Record News
Tashira Harrold, Jade Gildon and Mona Harris (left to right) attempt a three-person skip at Kate Haynes Elementary Thursday afternoon. Jump rope, a playground staple for more than a century, is getting some new respect as local school kids participate in the Jump for Heart campaign and more advanced jumpers are doing stunt demonstrations for school programs.

These kids were getting ready for Jump for Heart, a program that I remember from back in my days on the elementary school grounds.

The hardest thing about this assignment was the kids all wanted to pay attention to me and show off for me. Despite my constant warnings that "If you are looking at me, I can't use it in the newspaper."

I hate it when the subject of a photo is staring into your lens. I'm really not that big a fan of it during a portrait session either. I all just depends on the subject.

Well, not wanting these jumping kids to look staged, I tried to walk around a lot and ignore the kids pleading with me to "take their picture." These girls could have cared less if I was there or not, and that is what made me stick around for a few minutes longer to get the shot.

Jason Palmer/Times Record News
Jade Girard (center) laughs as she and the rest of her Wichita Falls Girl Scout Troop 217 play a Japanese version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors". The Girl Scouts are nearing their 95th anniversary and are making sure that their programs are relevant to girls today.

The purest form of joy is the laughter of a child. Nothing makes me smile faster than hearing a kid laugh out loud.

This was from a Girl Scout meeting one day back in January, when the organization was nearing their 95th anniversary. I was waiting for a good fun moment to capture to show the girls having fun, which was better than the blank stares I was getting for most of the meeting.

Finally, when they started playing their game, I heard a few giggles... that turned into laughter pretty quickly. I tried to make myself invisible (hard to do for somebody 6'1" and about 240) so the girls would just keep playing their game and not pay attention to me.

It worked out well, and this was the main picture from that assignment.

I'll have two more to come tomorrow regarding children.

Posted by Jason Palmer at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)