Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the kids just don't cooperate. It was an off day, despite the jelly beans and joke telling. The weather was gorgeous, the trees were beautiful in the background, and the kids were in a funk. So the picture we're sending out was taken on a freezing cold day in our living room.
I sent a plea for help to our photographer friend (who also has bad photo sessions) and she sent this little advice:
sometimes i start with letting them make some silly faces and photograph them and show them the "silly" photos in the viewfinder of the camera. that usually works to win them to the session. let them see the actual results. plus as the photographer i try to "bond" with the kids for a few minutes. have them do something like run around and throw leaves and i take photos of that. then i show them those FUN photos and they feel a little more inclined to doing the photos mom wants (that are never as much fun as the leaves throwing photos). mix in some fun run around photos with the "walk and hold my hand and look slightly obedient" photos...
hope this helps. there should be some over the counter "SMILE" medicine that we could harmless give our kids that would make them deliriously happy and obedient for half an hour....
hope this helps. there should be some over the counter "SMILE" medicine that we could harmless give our kids that would make them deliriously happy and obedient for half an hour....
I thought she had some great tips, and so I decided our next shoot would be in our living room, no shoes, and I let Adeline choose her own clothes. I just tried to work around that, and we had a third person come in with the sole job of making the kids laugh. I think it worked. I'll share those later, but in the mean time, you can see the few we won't be sending (7 of 262).
However, Mary did get some great shots of the two people in our family who can follow instructions.
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9 comments:
Great suggestions! I wish I had tried those years ago when I was trying to get photos of my crew! At least now I know that I'm not the only one with lots of photos no one would ever want to see on our Christmas card!
Barbara
Hey, thanks for sharing those great tips! Every year it happens to us! I am glad you have some keepers! Your family is growing up so beautifully!
cracks me up!!! you are not alone!!!!! i love the one of y'all all walking together. that is definitely a keeper. :)
Who would have thought a couple years ago that Adeline would appear to be the most cooperative one?
We've had that kind of photo-op days ... The one where I got 4 kids and a baby dressed and taken to the (cheap, inexperienced) photographer at the store, who insisted that the baby should be awake and sans-pacifier, and couldn't make the kids laugh at all, and we left without any picture ... And the (multiple) ones where I just wanted a quick snapshot of all the kids looking the same direction, but it couldn't happen ... Those days are funnier in retrospect ...
wow. that photographer must be a genius. she shared so many great tips with you. but i hope her photography skills are better than her grammar skills.
It's funny, our church directory one (done every 3 years with olan mills) turned out great - and just in time since (I know you're not on FB so you haven't seen it yet) Drew's eye is still a big purpley black spot.
I just picked up several books from the library and one is dedicated to Photographing children and families. There are some wonderful tips in it. Very similar to what your friend said. I wish I would have known that a week or so ago! I'm inspired and just trying to figure out when to work this new found knowledge into my schedule. I can't wait to see the photos you were able to get and I would be happy to let you borrow this library book. I highly recommend it!!!
Brite, these made me laugh and my sore throat felt better for it! :) The one of you and Warren is beautiful even if the kids aren't cooperating fully in any of the others!
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