A family photo shoot or celebration should be an enjoyable, fun experience - gone are the days of children being dressed in their best bib and tucker, dragged into a studio and told to sit up straight and smile. Modern studios tend to be less formal in their approach now and certainly produce fantastic results if you are looking for the more traditional portrait sitting. However, I have found that many people, especially children, do not find the idea of going into a studio appealing - they find the time restraints and the staged poses somewhat intimidating, so my family photo shoots are far more relaxed and are mostly carried out in your own home. As an alternative, I am perfectly happy to do a location shoot at a favourite beach or park, for example, which works well for huge family groups when there are just too many people to fit into the confines of a living room.
The shoot itself takes anything up to an hour, during which time I'm happy for you to change outfits and have as many different combinations of groups or individuals as you like. I know that often, younger children can be shy at first, so I try to give them time to relax and just have a chat or let them show me their favourite toys. Sometimes they just want to stay out of the limelight and watch what's going on - that's fine with me as, once the pressure is off and they see others enjoying the whole thing, they will almost always want to get involved too. I positively encourage some silliness; I find it's the best way to get natural smiles! Also, don't expect me to come up with all of the ideas for poses - if you can think of some of your own, you're much more likely to feel relaxed and happy. Children regularly choose the strangest places for their photos to be taken and these shots are time and again the best ones of the set!
In addition, if you are having a family gathering to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, why not take the opportunity of everyone being together in one place to grab a whole family photograph and to catch some more candid shots of the get together as a record for posterity? More often than not, an hour session is plenty to get what you need, so it doesn't have to be expensive and because you get all of your images on a copyright - free cd, you can share the memories with the whole family.
Have a think, come up with a wish list, then give me a call to see if I can fulfil your requirements - oh and remember, I can also supply gift certificates if you're stuck for a present idea!
The shoot itself takes anything up to an hour, during which time I'm happy for you to change outfits and have as many different combinations of groups or individuals as you like. I know that often, younger children can be shy at first, so I try to give them time to relax and just have a chat or let them show me their favourite toys. Sometimes they just want to stay out of the limelight and watch what's going on - that's fine with me as, once the pressure is off and they see others enjoying the whole thing, they will almost always want to get involved too. I positively encourage some silliness; I find it's the best way to get natural smiles! Also, don't expect me to come up with all of the ideas for poses - if you can think of some of your own, you're much more likely to feel relaxed and happy. Children regularly choose the strangest places for their photos to be taken and these shots are time and again the best ones of the set!
In addition, if you are having a family gathering to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, why not take the opportunity of everyone being together in one place to grab a whole family photograph and to catch some more candid shots of the get together as a record for posterity? More often than not, an hour session is plenty to get what you need, so it doesn't have to be expensive and because you get all of your images on a copyright - free cd, you can share the memories with the whole family.
Have a think, come up with a wish list, then give me a call to see if I can fulfil your requirements - oh and remember, I can also supply gift certificates if you're stuck for a present idea!