’Mell B’ shares snap tips

A passion for capturing natural photos of her children has led Baldivis mother Mellissa “Mell B” Baker to get snapping with other parents and share her knowledge of the mysterious buttons which surround a digital single-lens reflex camera.

The 29-year-old developed a photography workshop geared specifically towards mothers, to help them master the basics of photographing children.

“Two-and-a-half years ago I started doing the workshops, after finding that a lot of my clients, through the portrait business, wanted to learn how to use their camera better — so I came up with the idea to compact everything they wanted to know into a workshop,” she said.

Mrs Baker said her love for photography stemmed from wanting to capture lasting memories of her own children.

“Once I had my firstborn, my son, I realised how quick things changed, one minute they’re a newborn the next minute they’re walking around,” she said. “So like many other photographers it started with the children, wanting to capture every moment, every milestone.

“I looked back on the quality of photos I have for the second child compared to the first and I realised how important it is to know what you are doing and a few simple techniques really improve your photography skills.”

Over the two-and-half-hour workshop Mrs Baker said she went through lens types, exposure, manual mode, natural light, learning to connect with your subject and finding inspiration.

“What I teach is relevant to mums wanting to photograph their children,” she said.

“I encourage parents to let children explore and to capture them doing things they love and talk to them about things they love while they are taking photos, that way you get natural expressions and natural body movements and you will look back on those photos and appreciate them because they a genuine instead of a posed look.”

The Clicky Mums Camera and Photography workshops are held at Steel Tree restaurant in Baldivis. For information go to www.mellbphotography.com.