Kid Tips

Being that I do lot of family sessions, there are a bunch of things to help make it easier on kids (and parents and you!).

First off, I have no problem with parents bribing their kids:) Secondly, if they are young, I will forego the most important time for lighting and instead, use a time where the kiddos are better behaved (ex. not around nap time!).

Here are some other ways to get kids to love you/the camera:

1. Get to know their name right away.

2. Let them know they will do a few smiley faces and then they get to do their silliest faces! And be prepared, after the funny face often comes the most sincere smiles!

3. Let them see their photos after you take a bunch.

4. Find out what they love and get them to shout that out or you can make the sound. I have choo chooed and barked and neighed and who knows what else. A lot of little ones love singing. I have the WORST voice in the world but somehow, `Happy birthday' can do that trick without sounding too terrible! Make sure the parents don't sing along if they are in the photos.

5. If they are not wanting to look at the camera, just get some candids following them around. Or, get them interacting with mom and dad...those are the best smiles!

6. Let them choose the spot they want their photo taken at, sometimes they pick really good ones!

{Noah picked this great spot!}

There's are just a few off the top of my head. Do you have any others?

Take The Time

One thing I have learned over the years is to take the time to look over your subject and scenery before shooting. I'm still not super great at this because I get in a groove, but here are some things to look for so that you don't have to do a bunch of photoshopping afterwards!

1. Gum-don't chew it!

2. Girls hair stuck to their lipstick due to the wind (I just spent time today editing this, that's why it's on my mind).

(It's not hard to fix but when you have 10 pictures like this, it would've been way faster for me to notice and fix her hair).

3. Collars that aren't out properly, ties that aren't straight.

(Half of our session had her collar tucked in and I didn't notice! I actually went back to re-shoot it rather than try to edit it at all.)

4. Bra straps showing

5. Garbage in the way or graffiti in the background (some graffiti is okay but make sure it's appropriate!!).

6. Necklace clasps showing

7. Two people next to each other with bold patterns.

8. Elastics on wrists. I am so guilty of this, I always have one on my wrist:)

This is just a quick list. Anything else you can think of?

Starting Out: 4 Tips

If you are starting up a photography business, read here. Here are a few things I would add:

1. Word of mouth is the best advertisement ever. You do a good job on a session and suddenly, 4 other people, connected to that family or wedding, would like to hire you. In the beginning, we put an add in a local newsletter and dropped off postcards to about 200 homes in our neighbourhood. We got two sessions from that which basically covered our costs. Word of mouth is best.

2. Recognize your community and let them see you in action. Fortunately, we are connected to a wonderful and huge community. Our jobs as teachers connected us so many people. If you don't have that sort of base, I know there has to be other communities that you are part of. Church? Play group? Fellow preschool moms? Neighbourhood? Gary and I volunteer our services to three places; church, school and then I also do NILMDTS. People at church and school then realize we are photographers and get to see our work.

3. Getting a website/blog up right away is so important. Facebook too. I know she mentioned it but I want to reaffirm that point. Have something that showcases your work. Show only your best work. Don't try to include as many photos as you can, make sure every single picture is good. I know I still include too many but you need to make sure that if someone saw just one of the pictures you posted, they would think it was great.

4. If you need to build your portfolio, and you are not busy, take some sessions for free of your family or close friends. I have learned my lesson on this one though...DO NOT OFFER FREE SESSIONS IF YOU ARE BUSY. Otherwise, those sessions just take away from family time or from sessions where you could make money. I was always thinking, `Well, they don't have any money so I'll give them a deal, or do it for free or...'. I have realized that if you give someone a deal, they will take that money they saved and just spend it on something else. This is not to say that I don't give gifts once in a while but they are now very, very limited and I'm a lot more particular on when they happen. Also, another exception is when you are trying something new. An example of this was my first birth session for a good friend. Very cool experience for me, so awesome to capture.

5. You can change your prices. You don't need to wait until the new year to change them. We raised our prices way too slowly. I think because I spent 5 years getting my Bachelor of Science and then my teaching degree, I felt like I was qualified. I had a hard time asking for money for something that I was self taught in. I think that where we started was appropriate four years ago. We started at $100/session with two photographers...it was a great time for us to learn together and build our portfolio and confidence. I think our first wedding was $500.00 but really, we weren't wedding photographers so I think that was fair. There are sooooo many costs involved (even just insurance, yikes!) so take that into account.

Okay, that's it for today:) Gotta get back to work here!

Louise

Great Professional Development

I'm back. I've decided to start posting on here again. Really, I think it's going to be super small tidbits here and there that hopefully one person will find interesting:) I had stopped because there are so many great photography sites out there and I felt silly. However, I feel like I have some stuff to share, so I will!

Recently, Gary and I booked a photo session with Megan to have a fun date for our 6th wedding anniversary. It was so fun and actually some great professional development. I would say that if you are a photographer, yet never experienced being the subject of a session, do it!

Here are some things I learned:

1. Each photographer has their own style and you hire them for them. If someone hires me, I need to be confident and do my thing. Sure, I ask if there are specific things they are looking for, but really, it's my work they've seen and want and so I'll do it. I don't need to worry about being `artsier' or `pose-ier' or someone else, I'm me. Megan did her thing and I loved it. It was 70% like us and 30% different and I liked that.

2. It is good to give couples a good idea of what to expect during a session and to give them little tips as well. Example: It will be one hour long, bring some lip gloss to touch up, we'll do an outfit change half way if you like, we'll be walking around to about 4 different spots, please let me know if there are any pictures you must have or things you don't like, close your eyes when kissing (GARY!!!) etc.

3. It good to let them know it's okay to be nervous and that actually it will end up being really fun. I was nervous being photographed but we had so much fun! Gary even gave that date a 9/10 which is pretty much the highest ever in his books:)

4. Let the photographer know if there is something to look out for. Gary's left eye is a little lazy and he blinks a lot. I should've told Megan earlier to make sure she got the shots she wanted with his eyes open:) Let the photographer know if you have a better side, or if you don't like your profile, or if you tend to blink a lot etc. I realized throughout the session that my smile is just way too big:)

5. Tell the clients to speak up if something feels awkward or they don't know what to do with a hand...nothing worse than an awkward hand/arm.

So, if you are a photographer, or an aspiring one, I recommend booking a session with someone you admire! Also, if you are looking to have a fun date, a photo session sure is a good one:) Talking about a fun date, I would love, love, love to capture a wedding proposal. Just saying. I've done a bunch of other types of session of natural, raw moments (like the birth of a baby) and I would love to candidly catch a proposal.

Have a great week!

Louise