Picture day can be an exciting time for children and parents. Picking out what to wear and practicing expressions are frequently part of getting ready for picture day. This can be fun for both the children and the parents. I’ll have some thoughts about picking out what to wear at the end. The main goal of this post is to prepare both the child and the parents about what to expect from the photo session.
Every photographer is different. If you are reading this post it may be because I or someone working for me will be your photographer. This is what to expect if I will be your photographer. If you have never watched me working with children in a childcare setting, it may be very different than what you expect.
The images at the top of this post were all taken in a childcare. Which poses I take will depend upon what package we are offering at your childcare center or preschool. The two most popular ones are our two-pose package and our one pose package. Your school might have chosen to have me do more. A display package should be at the school to show you what to expect.
Engaging the subject, eliciting an expression and capturing the image is the essence of portrait photography. The earliest expression of that formula of which I am aware came from Ansel Adams. I came up with that description after working with several children’s photographers. At the time, if I had heard of Ansel Adams, I certainly wouldn’t have been thinking about him. Similarly, I learned to work with children before I learned how to calculate an f-stop, or any other camera or lighting setting. Engaging the children and getting them to relax and look their best was more important. If I couldn’t do that, I was not going to be a photographer for the people who were paying me. It was all about posing and expressions. I had worked with many thousands of children before anything else was important.
Two certain ways to make many people uncomfortable is to 1) tell them to look at the camera and 2) tell them to smile. Those are two things you will not likely find me doing. It’s not that I don’t want them to look at the camera. It’s that I do want them to look at me. That’s one of the reasons I work with a tripod and a remote release. I want my hands free and I don’t want a camera between me and the subject. Check out some of my YouTube videos to understand how important that is because of the way I interact with the subjects.
If you scroll through the posts on this blog you will see many images with the subject looking directly into the camera. The subject has followed me there. They are not staring into the lens. Hence, the relaxed, engaged expression.
Pro Tip: (For pros, but parents can read it, too.) If a child is constantly looking back to the camera with a cheesy smile, take a couple of those right away. That is what the child expects. If you don’t meet the child’s expectations, it may frustrate the child enough that things will go downhill.
Practicing expressions can be fun for both the parent and the child but do prepare the child for what to expect if they are being photographed by me or someone with my background. It will make it much more fun for both the child and the photographer. Maybe you can watch a couple videos together.
What to wear? I’m going to skip all of the usual stuff that the experts say. You’ve heard all of that, maybe. Pick out something that both you and your child like. Remember, there may be full length poses. If you have siblings, they will be photographed together. If you want a clothing change, we can do that. Be certain the school knows what you want. If the clothing has something happen before the pictures are done, we will fix it before we make the prints. If you see something after the prints are made, don’t be afraid to ask.
Most of all it’s important that your child knows what to expect. We’re going to have fun. Go ahead and tell them the photographer’s name. If it’s us, the school knows who the photographer will be. One last video to share. The girl in black came in insisting that she was not going to get her picture taken. She just came for the party with her friends. It didn’t really take any longer than most of the others.