When you book a session with a child portrait photographer preparing is ultimately as easy as ever! I am going to give you five easy steps to follow when preparing for a child photography session.
Step One: Consultation to prepare for a child photography session.
When you book a session with me, we will first get together and make sure we are a good fit. In this consultation you can bring your child along so we can get to know each other and make sure your child will be comfortable with me. Instead of me being an absolute stranger to your child during their session. Meeting them first will help ease you and your child’s mind. I can explain to them about how much fun we will have and a little bit of the process that the child will understand. This process doesn’t have to last a long time and can even be done virtual if you would prefer.
Step Two: Communicating a good time frame.
Being a parent is already very time consuming. During our consultation we can talk about the time frame I normally shoot my sessions to prepare for child photography. For the best possible portraits, I suggest we shoot during the golden hour, which is 1 hour before sunset and some after the sun has set. As I know most children are creatures of habit, and most bedtimes will fall before my preferred shoot time. I suggest that you let your child stay up a little later than normal the following night so they may possibly sleep in a little later the day of our session, which will allow them to stay awake later. If this is not an option for you, we can always schedule a session anytime after 5 to 6 pm for decent lighting as well. Let your child know a few days before the session that “tomorrow is your big day” and you are going to do so well. It works to hype them up about it and get them excited!
Step Three: Literally Prepare your child for the photography session.
Make sure you are upfront and honest to them about your expectations, but do not force it upon them. Say you will be having your photos done, you will look so beautiful, and you are going to have a fun time! Most children are fine with a session, but some children do not enjoy sitting still for long periods of time. That is fine! We will not force your child to sit for long periods or at all if they do not want to. I also enjoy capturing children running and playing to bring out unique personality!
Step Four: Wardrobe, brought to you by me!
I supply wardrobe for my child photography. I believe that a beautiful portrait also includes a beautiful wardrobe. I have own many beautiful gowns that make your little princess feel like a princess for her session. I also can rent a gown if you do not see anything that you would like from my closet. Most clients are happy to allow me to do all the styling. But of course, if you would like to choose your own I can help with that and make the process easy with perfect end results! Usually, the wardrobe for parents is the most stressful part, so having me supply the wardrobe is a stress relief!
Step Five: RELAX! DON’T STRESS OR WORRY.
As parents we all cannot help but have high expectations when it comes to how our children will behave and act during certain situations. It is normal right? I want to let you know that it is ok to feel this way but trust when I say, I am a professional in dealing with children! I have ways to bring out genuine smiles and happy times. I have many “prompts” that I use for children. Prompts are little things that I tell them to do, fun activities usually and they absolutely love doing them and we get some great shots! Normally once they warm up to me, we can get some great portrait type shots as well. I will not force your child to be unhappy, nervous or uncomfortable during their session. We can always reschedule if they are just having a bad day…it happens to all of us! Follow me on Facebook for more prep tips!
