We can’t all have a professional photographer in our back pocket to capture each of those important milestones. Check out these great tips on “How to get the best photos of your kids” from the professionals at Studio Laguna located in St. Louis Park, MN.
I thought today that I would do an object lesson using the best test subjects out there, my own kids. Believe it or not, my children are not easy to photograph. Since they know both John and I, when we try to take pictures and give direction, they don’t listen. There is actually an air of authority when a stranger asks a child to do something, which makes it easier for us to photograph kids we don’t know rather than ones we know well. So we figured we’d see how a portrait session with fairly difficult subjects would turn out if we took our own advice.
So lets start with the outfit. When choosing a wardrobe for a children’s session, you want to find something that fits their personality. Don’t put a rambunctious child into a frilly pink dress, they’ll just get frustrated at the limited movement. I know that Ainsley hates to have restricted movement or itchy fabrics, so I chose soft, easy pieces from her wardrobe. She also has a fun personality, so I gave her a ragamuffin look. The only pieces I bought especially for the shoot were the tights and skirt. Ebay and Gap Kids clearance are fabulous =) The point is to not go overboard with the outfit. Pick something that is in their closet already, something that fits their personality, and then add one new item to complete the outfit.
Next is the hype. I started prepping our kids about three days before the shoot. I showed Cooper the outfit he was going to wear and talked about how cute it was. The next day I asked him if he’d like to take some pictures in his cool outfit. Then today I told him that I wanted to give him a matchbox car if he was a good kid and took pictures with me. I let him go to Target and pick out a car and got really excited with him. So by the time the pictures came around, he was already pumped and listening to me about where I wanted him to stand. I kept the session short and when he was done he got a high five and a car. Little bribes work very well, but only if they aren’t forced or you threaten to take away the bribe. Make sure things stay positive and laid back. Start talking about the session early but don’t pressure them at all. Let the child think it is THEIR idea to take pictures, and then reward them at the end. Positive reinforcement!
Now to the session itself. Pick a time where your child will be in the best mood. For Lyra, it is after nap, as long as she gets enough sleep. So I made sure to keep things calm and easy going and put her to bed right on time. When she woke up, we took our time dressing the kids and kept everything very relaxed and positive. If you’re rushing around, your kid will get anxious, so make sure things stay light and happy. Because the kids were in good moods and excited, I only needed 5 minutes per child to get some great shots. This doesn’t mean a session should only take 5 minutes, we book hour sessions for families because there is always a dirty diaper or feeding or child that needs to take things at their own pace. But once you get your child in a positive mood, the actual picture taking doesn’t need to be that long.
Location is another important thing to think about when booking your child’s portrait session. I love outdoors. We have an indoor studio, but things start to look the same after a while. Outside, there are things to look at, textures to use as backgrounds, vivid colors to include. You can pick a location that says something about your family, wouldn’t it be fun to have your whole family on the Como Zoo carousel? Showing a family in action and being themselves makes the best portraits.
The final step is the resulting images. If you get a couple great images of you child, the session was a success. You don’t need to expect 100 amazing portraits of your child! Getting that one key image that you want to turn into an 11×14 for your wall is the goal of a portrait session. So expect some images you don’t like, some you do. John and I take some images that are experimental or fit a thought we’ve had in our head, we love action shots, and we always make sure to grab a few serious as well as fun portraits. We knew we’d have more variety with Cooper’s portraits rather than Lyra’s because he is older and can take direction. Lyra is still a baby, so I was happy to just get the one shot of her standing and smiling.
I hope this blog entry has helped! If you follow these basic steps and adapt them to fit your family, you will have wonderful results. And, because they are the cutest things ever, here are pictures of my kids from their session today. Enjoy!
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