Getting ready for picture day can be fun for both the parents and the children. Even toddlers can enjoy dressing up and planning for the big day. As you can see from the images accompanying this post, our preschool/childcare pictures might be a bit more than you expect from school pictures.
I and the other photographers that I send into a childcare or preschool session are specialists in working with younger children, newborn through kindergarten. Many people are surprised that we often spend more time getting to know the child than actually posing and photographing them. It’s a little like what you would experience if you booked a family portrait session with a leading portrait photographer for a few thousand dollars.
Because we are working with the children in small groups and we are working with teachers that understand what we do, we can do this quickly and efficiently. You can see some of this on my YouTube channel. Depending upon the package we are offering in your school you may have a simple one pose package or a multiple pose package. The important thing to take away from my YouTube videos is that your child should be prepared to have a fun experience with the photographer without a preconceived plan of how to pose or smile.
We will never ask them to look at the camera or smile. If the child comes in with instructions to look at the camera and give a particular smile it can be difficult to get them to relax and look natural.
Sometimes a child will be relaxed and engaged before they get in front of the camera and then immediately stare into the lens with a forced smile. These can be the most difficult children to photograph. I will spend a few extra minutes with those children, but if I cannot break though the “conditioning” I simply have to move on.
In Summation
Keep this in mind. Your child will have a fun experience and you will have great pictures if they don’t have too many instructions. Natural relaxed expressions come from relaxing and letting it happen. Looking at the camera is no way to relax.