We all know that today is just going to be a memory tomorrow, so some genius created a camera way back when. A part of having a family is trying to make sure you have great records of those memories. It just so happens that my mom is a photographer, and I have learned so much about the importance of getting a quality photographer. To someone with no experience with trying to get family portraits, Christmas cards, or just event photos, this can become a nightmare. So many people buy a camera, make a facebook page, then call themselves professionals. It makes me laugh, a quality photographer has equipment that can cost as much as a new sedan, and it has to be repaired regularly if they use it. Then comes the editing, oh man, this is where the work really begins, they can spend 20-60 hours editing events, more for weddings. My point is.....these people are killing it behind the scenes and it costs money to have someone create these memories. You aren’t paying for photographs when you get a quality photographer, you are paying for memories. Below is an article Dailey’s Photography wrote in a response to my questions. It is very insightful.
Do you want pictures like this? Photo Courtesy Dailey's Photography
SO.. you want a picture of your sweet family. This will be fun right! Well you may be in for a surprise! It almost never goes the way you expect it.. Little Janie she
loves the camera, she can’t wait for mom to take her picture.. selfie queen! Then the day comes Janie wants nothing to do with the camera and Billy wants to bury his head in mom’s leg. But it doesn’t have to be a terrible experience if you can remember a few things.
First, if you have little ones, toddlers or kids under 4 you can’t treat it like a typical outing. While I completely understand that you do not want your children to act like they were raised by wolves (neither do we!) Please think about this from the kids point of view. Maybe that will help some. Remember while you are wanting to preserve these precious years.. (remember that by the end of the session) Little Jane and Billy are not at all on the same page.. no matter how much they promise to be a good girl or boy for the nice lady with the camera!
Or do you want pictures like this? Photo courtesy of Sears
So mom and dad want me to put on these “good” clothes (that’s what my mom called them, I guess the everyday ones were just passable) which means I can’t get dirty or have any fun! Well they promised me a treat afterwards so we’ll see how this goes. Now I have to get in the car and mom says I can’t pinch my sister because she will cry and mess her face up.. (yeah because it looks so good anyway right) so fine.. I’ll sit here and be quiet. Fun we are at the park! Maybe this won’t be so bad... you mean I can’t run and play.. I can’t go see that fountain and oh look there’s a bridge.. what I can’t do that either.. Here comes a lady with a camera.. guess that’s the picture lady. Wonderful we can get this over with.. wait.. what you want me to be still and smile.. OMG this is lasting FOREVER!!!!! I’m so bored.. I’ll just stick my finger in my brother’s eye.. I mean a guy needs entertainment right!
So of course by this time poor Dad and Mom have had it and it usually leads to Dad bringing out his.. ‘I mean business young man’ voice, which is enough to send them all into tears and fear.
Unless your kids are really acting like heathens, most photographers who shoot family session understand that this isn’t the most fun your kids are going to have today. We understand that we need to be quick and that if this isn’t a good experience for them the next time will be worse. For children under 4 I would say you are doing good to get 20 minutes of camera time after that, well lets just say it isn’t long before Dad puts the hammer down!
Personally, I prefer if Mom and Dad let me handle little Jane and Billy. Its a lot easier to get good shots if mom and dad are already posed and looking at the camera when I get that lightening fast smile from little Janie. You’ve done the hard part, you got them here, clean and miraculously still alive! Let me do the rest.
Posing is over rated.. I know that’s important but generally when you try to pose a one year old its like herding cats. You won’t hear me saying.. "give me a big smile Billy” because usually the end up looking like someone turned the fan on while they were standing in front of it.. you know great big cheesy smile, eyes squinted from the giant smile! So I try to shoot your family interactions. If we get some poses that’s just great. But what I really want is for your minions to have fun. I do always try to be sure we get at least one good traditional family pose.
As for what to wear.
I like to start out with a basic color palette and go from there. The goal is to coordinate but not match. It really helps if kids are comfortable in their clothes as well!
It works well if one person in the group carried a pattern in their outfit and then to coordinate around them. Jazz it up with accessories but not to crazy. Putting that giant bow on little Janie’s head will more then likely be the thing that you’ll see first when you look at your images rather than little Janie. Have Billy wear some converse shoes with some color, Mom wear a pretty scarf with a little color, and of course put a bow on Janie dear, Just not the one that is giant and bright. Have her wear some of those adorable fringed boots.. texture really makes a difference. Of course props are nice as well, bring a blanket or a wagon, a favorite stuffed pet. Things that mean something to you and them.
LOCATION - think about your clothing choices and make sure they fit your surroundings. For example a field of flowers might not be the best background for a pretty plaid dress.
A few other things...
- If someone needs a hair cut get it the week before so it has time to grow out just a bit.
- Try not to have logos, characters, graphics etc. It tends to take a professional portrait down a few notches and can be distracting as well. It also dates the photo. I’m thinking of those pictures I have from the 80’s with the polo logo or a friend in parachute pants!
- Don’t make everyone wear the same color. Its boring. Please no families all dressed in khaki pants or all in denim and white shirts.
- While you want to to stay current, try to avoid trends that will let everyone know the exact year you took pictures!
- I hope that helps a bit! I hope that your session is fun and isn’t something you need to deal with in a family therapy session!
Check out Dailey’s Photography at the following pages:
No comments:
Post a Comment