Photography- What is going on outside the frame?

As I weed through all of my photos, I am always quick to delete and sort.  I usually have a few variations of each shot that can be deleted.  Great photographers can set everything up, frame the photo and take one shot- knowing they got just what they wanted.  I try this as much as I can (because even though it's digital it still is a waste of time to go through and delete photos) but to be honest when photographing kids it's pretty difficult. Constant wiggling, background changes, funny expressions- one move and you either miss or capture the perfect moment.  I went through some photos from our beach trip and thought I would share a few examples:

 If I had waited for the look below before I started snapping I would have missed the photo above.

Most would overlook it, but for anyone who knows JR, it perfectly captures his favorite word these days- "Why?" Sometimes when I photograph other people's children I keep a few of the awkward or interesting poses/expressions because I may have captured something special to the parents that portrays their child's personality.

 The photo above caught his sweet little smirk, but I waited one more second and took another after the background cleared.  It allows you to focus more on the boys and not be distracted by their sister in the background.

 Sometimes with busy babies & toddlers- safety is the main concern! 

I loved this ledge at Alys Beach (in the shade, but all the white still bounced around plenty of light)

but Vera is quite the climber... well so is John Ryman...

 With the right amount of cropping, you would never know Daddy was ready to catch 

any wiggly babies just below.  Just make sure they stay low enough to be out of the frame!

 And while it's nice to have pretty smiling family photos, 

sometimes my favorites capture the reality and a little attitude :)

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