Mr. N at three, and with a new surprise on the way – UC Berkeley child photography

It’s our third time around for madman Mr. N. His mother Betsey recently finished her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Because they live nearby, we took some time on an overcast day to tour around campus before Mr. N’s baby sister is born. He’s very excited to be a big brother. Well, he’s excited about everything, because that’s what being three is all about!

Shooting in an overcast day can sometimes be a challenge. When shooting, I’m often thinking of how I’ll bring the surrounding elements into the photo without interfering with a proper exposure of the subject. Since I don’t shoot with flash, this often means avoiding backlighting and complex shadows (like those that come from trees), and it often means finding ways to keep the sky colorful. On an overcast day, there’s just no chance for the sky to have color whatever you do with your exposure, so it’s better to use it either as a neutral background that the viewer can forget about, or eliminate it from the photo by shooting down on a subject. The bricks near the Campanile made it easy to introduce an element of color in those shots where the horizon line is visible, not to mention the vivid violet that Betsey was wearing.

Many thanks to Dan, Betsey and Mr. N!