Week 3 — Golden-autumn family portraits

12–18 October 2026 · eight-hour ceiling · issued 12 October · completion unreported

Objective

Create an 8–12-image family story using simple natural light and comfortable interaction with your wife and toddler son. Include yourself where practical. Use your Week 1 baseline for comparison if it exists. No purchase or new lighting equipment is required.

Programme · Seasonal brief · Progress

Study — two hours

  • 45 minutes: owned Ghionis library, Art of Wedding Photography → The Light, Part 3 → Open Shade. Review Sunlight or Reflectors only if relevant to your chosen setting.
  • 30 minutes: The Pose, Part 2 → Families. Note one comfortable starting arrangement and one instruction to try.
  • 25 minutes: Tamara Lackey: child direction and selected portions of Stacey Potter's toddler session. Revisit rather than rewatch if already studied; record two prompts.
  • 20 minutes: read the seasonal brief and finish your short shot list. These are time budgets, not owned-lesson runtimes. Stop and record a resume point. If course access fails, use Scott Robert Lim's open-shade teaching within the same allocation and the free child-direction resources above.

Prepare and photograph — three hours

  1. Plan, 45 minutes: choose one nearby location from your scouting and one sheltered/window-light alternative. Check actual foliage and a short-range forecast before deciding. Agree a time around your son's routine, comfortable clothing you own, two prompts and roles. Autumn colour is not guaranteed; a small patch of colour or the actual late-autumn setting is enough.
  2. Travel and setup, 50 minutes: use familiar equipment. Test exposure, eye focus and the background with an adult first. Start in clean open shade; avoid patchy sunlight across faces. Inspect the first photographs and adjust for movement and the number of faces that need to be sharp.
  3. Photograph, 20–40 minutes maximum: split into short blocks and stop sooner if needed. Begin with one straightforward portrait, then try walking together, looking at a leaf or cuddling. Give one prompt at a time. Seek a wider setting, mother-and-son interaction, father-and-son interaction, an all-three portrait if feasible, your son exploring with a parent nearby, a portrait of your wife and a meaningful close detail. The list is a guide, not a performance quota. Optional backlight comes only after a dependable result.
  4. Return, import and backup, 45 minutes: preserve originals, copy to a separate backup and open representative files. Reallocate unused photographing time to travel, notes or review.

For all-three images, use a familiar helper with the camera already prepared, or a supported camera and tested remote/timer. Keep an adult with your son and verify focus. If neither works, make separate parent-child pairs and record the missing group; do not prolong the session to force it.

Cull and edit — two hours

Select 8–12 distinct photographs: setting, interaction, close expression, detail and a connecting moment. Remove near-duplicates. Apply basic exposure, white balance and crop, keeping skin believable among autumn colours. Preserve originals; skip advanced skin work. Export, check the files open and arrange a simple gallery sequence. Do not pad the gallery with weak frames to meet a number.

Review — one hour

Score five representative images 0–2 for technical quality, light, posing/expression, composition and editing. Give a visible reason for each score. Check intended eye sharpness, controlled movement, skin colour, clear backgrounds, expression and variety. Ask your wife which images feel most like your family. Compare one portrait with Week 1 if available; record one improvement and one next priority. Use the review template if helpful.

Deliverables and dates

  • Target shoot: 12–18 October; reserve 19–25 October within the flexible 5–25 October window.
  • By 18 October, record the shoot/selection status, or the reason for deferral and reserve date.
  • Finish the 8–12-image gallery within one week of the shoot, using Week 4 editing time if needed; no later than 25 October for a shoot completed this week.
  • Record original, backup and export locations with verification, actual study portions, subject feedback and the comparison/next priority in your notes and Progress.
  • If the autumn shoot was already done early, finish and review that gallery instead of scheduling another full shoot.

Adaptations and three-hour fallback

No completion has been reported for Weeks 1–2. If you have not rehearsed, use the first few adult-only frames to check light, focus and comfortable direction before inviting your son. Keep the setup simple; defer optional viewing. If the Week 1 baseline is missing, record that honestly and schedule its short window-light comparison in Week 4; do not invent a before/after pair.

If weather or family availability prevents the outing, use the 19–25 October reserve. This week's practical time can become a short window-light family rehearsal and planning. If the reserve also fails, a sheltered or indoor family story is a valid recorded substitution. No person available: rehearse with a self-portrait and defer family-direction evidence.

Three hours: 30 minutes study, 75 minutes preparation/local travel/short photography, 45 minutes backup/basic editing, and 30 minutes review. Deliver three finished images and one meaningful comparison pair, allowing overlap (for example, the same adult facing brighter open sky and then turned slightly). Mark the seasonal gallery partial and finish its selection in Week 4 if enough suitable photographs exist. Do not add another full session just to catch up.