Successful Child Portraits: Everyone leaves happy!
I thoroughly enjoy shooting kids, especially when a parent announces that their child won’t sit for a good portrait. When my portrait session is over, the parent and the child leave happy; the child had fun and the parent has a good selection of images. Here are a few key learnings that were gleaned from children portrait photography sessions:
1) Established Prioritized Goals
Talk to the parent(s) about what they are looking for and if they’ve had bad photo sessions in the past, learn what they think went wrong. Prioritize the goals so you have done the most important shots by the end of the shoot, but you don’t want to shoot in prioritized order.
2) Prepare Fully
Bring the subjects in only when you are ready to shoot. Give your subject(s) a break and let them wander while you get ready. Get the technical side set (White balance, lighting, exposure, sets, props, etc) so you and your equipment are ready for that optimal shot. You still need to learn to setup quickly, just don’t begin shooting your younger subjects until you are ready or you’ll lose their attention prematurely.
3) Maintain Control
You’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, so don’t let the parent dictate the sequence of the shoot. Listen to suggestions, but keep in mind what works and what doesn’t. Often times the correct sequence is counter-intuitive to your client.
· Start simple and build in complexity from there · Organize the sets based on the subject’s readiness · Communicate your reasoning behind the sequence with the parent(s) 4) Warm-up:
Tell the parent(s) to let the child roam on and off the set; present some props to the child to play with, but let the child warm-up to you, the setting, and the idea of being photographed. Get down on their level, sit on the floor and talk to them. Win them over!
5) Keep Your Subjects Involved
Ask the child to help you setup, ask them to retrieve a prop, have the child press the shutter for one or two shots, and show them their pictures on the camera. Feed your subject genuine praise and encourage them. At the end of the session, sit down with the child and show them the images on the computer.
6) Show Them, Don’t Just Tell Them
Personally demonstrate the poses that you want from them and have fun doing it. Don’t worry that it might look silly coming from you; it helps to break the ice and win over your subjects and parents.
7) Keep their hands occupied
Hands are always a challenge in portrait photography and it can be difficult to convey the hand positions that you want from your subject, especially young children. Instead of instructing the child how to position their hands, it is easier when you give your younger subjects a prop to hold. It also looks more natural.
8) Time the Highest Priority Goal
Wait for the right moment for that highest priority goal. Warm-up first, win-over your subject’s confidence, and recognize the peak time to shoot that most-important goal before your subject(s) starts losing interest and focus. This typically happens between 50 to 75% through the session.
9) Bribery Works
As a parent, routine bribery is not a good idea. However, as a photographer looking for that difficult portrait, have something on-hand within the set that will attract the child (ex. Stuffed toy, cookies, fun props).
10) Patience
Today’s cameras can shoot 10+ frames/sec, but burst shooting is risky and doesn’t work with strobes. Wait for the shot and train yourself to gently press the button just before the right moment. Repeat two or three times and choose the best if possible.
11) Kick the Parents Out
After you’ve gained the child’s trust and you’ve pre-occupied the child, gently ask the parents to step out-of-sight while you take some shots. Hands-down, the parents agree that the best shots came while the parents were not visible. Kids are looking to please their parents and keeptheir guard up. Parents can use their own point-n-click camera to get those shots, what they want from you is what they can’t get, which occurs when the parents step away!
Summary
Arrange the session to work up to the most important shots through continuous communications and good workflow, but be flexible and dynamically adapt to your subject’s attention span and interests. You’re a professional because you’ve learned to balance the technical aspects with the creative and the people skills; successful children portrait photography can take you to a new level of professionalism.