You have a family portrait hanging in your living room. You decided to place it there so when guests and other family members visit your home, they’ll immediately see how wonderful your family is. You considered this portrait as one of the highlights in your house. And since your children just celebrated their next birthday, you think they’re now ready to cooperate in a photo shoot session with you. You want to take their portrait photos and hang these alongside your family photos. You think that there’s nothing better than showing guests how proud you are as a parent!
And while you might have that goal in mind, do you know what to do about it? Yes, taking amazing portrait photos of your children might seem easy but there are challenges associated with it. Firstly, you can’t control how your children might have tantrums in the middle of the shoot. So, practice patience. Secondly, you need to have the basic equipment for portrait photography. Get the right photography gear and you will be able to capture better portraits without much efforts.To ensure the photo shoot will be successful, consider the tips below:
- Embrace something they love: Since you’re the one calling the shots during the photoshoot, you might have everything planned out – how your children will pose, what they wear and where the location of the photoshoot will be. Most of the time, these won’t do anything for the photoshoot because children will always have their way. Instead of insisting on what you want, try to embrace something they love. If your children loves wearing hats, take pictures while they’re fitting one. If they love baking, shoot in the kitchen. You need to make sure that your children are comfortable during the shoot and being in their world is one way of achieving that goal.
- Use a chair: When you have unruly children, it can be difficult to give them instructions. They can be a handful, right? In situations like these, chairs are your best friend. You can set them up in a chair and give them something to do. You can place their food or favorite toys in the chair with them to keep them distracted. You just have to make sure that someone else is looking after them to ensure their safety, especially when they’re in a high chair.
- Include a sibling or a friend: When your children have someone with them during the shoot, they’ll be more comfortable. In some cases, they won’t even notice that you’re actually there! They’ll be having so much fun together, making it easy for you to take candid portrait photos.
- Try a playful approach: Children will be uncooperative when you tell them to pose in a
certain way. For them, this might seem like a chore. To solve problems like these, don’t let them pose but make them play instead! Playing a game during the photoshoot will be more fun for them hence, will make it easier for you to earn their cooperation. A game of peek-a-boo is an excellent example of how you can capture smiling faces of your beautiful children! - Sing a song: For sure, your children will always have a favorite song from their favorite movie. Regardless if this is from Frozen or Star Wars, sing it with your children in the middle of the shoot. This will help your children become calmer and relaxed – things which are essential for you to get that perfect portrait shoot.
- Stop stressing: There’ll be instances when your children will never follow anything you say during the photoshoot. This can be because they don’t have any experience doing it or they’re not comfortable to do it. Regardless of the reason, you should be calm during the photoshoot. Don’t stress too much about it as this can also stress your children. If your children are playful in the middle of the photoshoot, let them. If they want to dance around, let them. Let these serve as an opportunity to take candid, beautiful photos.
Tap Professionals When Needed
If you have never attempted to take amazing portrait photos of your children in the past, the tips presented in this article might seem taxing for you. You might even consume too much time just to get one perfect shot! If you think you can’t do it on your own, you can always seek the help of professionals. There are many organizations which can help you with professional headshots in Chicago.
Michael Schacht
Michael Schacht is a portrait photographer and photography educator based in Chicago Illinois. As owner/operator of 312 Elements Headshot Photography located in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, Michael overseas the day to day operations and has had the opportunity to photograph thousands of corporate professionals over the last decade. Through his direction, attention to detail, and people skills, he’s helped these clients to craft a narrative around their personal brand. It’s his belief that the headshot is the modern dad business card and that a better headshot is essential for a better career. Michael, his wife Meghan and his two daughters reside in Tinley Park Illinois where he is a community leader and active participant in the local business sector. Michael studied business at Ball State university and photography with world renown headshot photographer, Peter Hurley. It was Hurley that trained Michael in the art of human expression. Michael is now a Headshot Crew certified Mentor and active member of the Headshot Crew community where he was named one of the top 20 headshot photographers in the world.
