Week 2 — Outdoor rehearsal and autumn scouting

5–11 October 2026 · eight-hour maximum · issued 7 October; completion unreported

Objective

Find dependable outdoor light, rehearse a short adult-and-toddler session, and prepare the autumn family shoot for 12–18 October (flexible 5–25 October). No new purchase is required.

Study — two hours

Prepare and photograph — three hours

  1. Scout, 60 minutes including local travel: compare two nearby locations for open shade, uncluttered backgrounds, usable autumn colour, easy access and a sheltered/window-light fallback. Note where the brighter open sky lies. Choose a time around your son's routine; sunset is not required.
  2. Prepare, 30 minutes: agree roles with your wife, choose equipment you already use, and test eye focus and exposure with an adult. Arrange a familiar helper or supported camera with a tested remote/timer for all-three frames. An adult stays with your son.
  3. Rehearse, up to 40 minutes: photograph one adult first. Make a matched pair with the face towards brighter open sky, then turned slightly; keep framing similar and adjust exposure as needed. Check eye sharpness and patchy light. Invite parent-and-child walking, a cuddle or looking at a leaf. Give one prompt at a time and stop earlier if your child tires. Aim for a wide setting, parent-and-child interaction and close expression. Test an all-three frame if practical; otherwise capture parent-child pairs and note the missing group.
  4. Import, backup and notes, 50 minutes: retain originals, make a separate backup and open representative files. Record which direction worked and the chosen location. Unused child-facing time goes to preparation or review, not extra posing.

Cull and edit — two hours

Select five portraits plus one matched light comparison; overlap is allowed. Apply basic exposure, white balance and crop with consistent skin colour. Preserve originals and check exported files. Compare with Week 1 if those images exist.

Review — one hour

Score five images 0–2 for technical quality, light, posing/expression, composition and editing, with a visible reason for each score. Check intended eye sharpness, distracting background shapes, patchy light, natural interaction and colour consistency. Ask your wife which interaction felt easiest. Choose one correction for the autumn shoot.

Deliver by Sunday 11 October

  • Five edited portraits and one matched comparison pair.
  • Backup/export locations and verification.
  • A short autumn brief: chosen location plus alternative, provisional date/time, rain fallback, helper/remote plan, two prompts and desired frames.
  • Actual study/practice notes and honest progress status.

Autumn target: 12–18 October, flexible 5–25 October. Check actual foliage and a short-range forecast before committing; conditions are not guaranteed. If good colour is already passing, the autumn session can replace this rehearsal: aim for 8–12 varied images and finish the gallery by the following Sunday. Do not add a second full shoot.

Adaptation and three-hour fallback

Week 1 completion is unreported. If the baseline is missing, replace part of this week's rehearsal with a short window-light adult baseline; label it as delayed Week 1 work and defer optional viewing. No toddler available: use an adult stand-in and record toddler direction as unpractised. Poor weather: use window light and scout briefly without the child.

Three hours: 30 minutes study, 75 minutes scouting/preparation/short photography, 45 minutes backup/basic editing and 30 minutes review/planning. Deliver three images and one matched pair, allowing overlap, plus the autumn brief. Since this assignment is arriving midweek, use this reduced version if eight hours will not fit.