Three Helpful Things to Tell Your Photographer | Whitney Beth Photography
Three Helpful Things to Tell Your Photographer | Whitney Beth Photography
Just like in everything in life, if you have solid communication and expectations you’ll get farther and be happier with the results. Same goes for photographing your family pictures. By letting me in on these three things, I can better serve my clients and exceed their expectations.
1. Who is “less than thrilled” to be getting their pictures taken, and why.
- I can guarantee that in every group, there is always at least one person who would rather not be there. Shocking, I know. But putting a blanket, “I don’t want to be here” isn’t so helpful. What is helpful is knowing the reason behind the hesitation. A big reason most people don’t want their pictures taken is they aren’t happy with how they look. If this is the case, I know to give plenty of direction and lots of affirmations that they are doing well and look good! If they’re a kid and don’t want to be there I know to play plenty of games (more than normal) to get them to relax and have fun. By giving me a heads up before the shoot I’ll be able to better tailor your experience to your family so that you can get the best pictures of your family.
2. What you children’s interests are.
- When we are walking to the spot I plan to start at I like to talk to my clients - especially the kids, to get them warmed up to me as well as get an idea of personality and what they like. If I know beforehand that your son is a die hard Pokémon lover, I can use that to my advantage. Have you ever talked to someone about one of their passions or their favorite movie? They light up and are so excited to tell you all about it. Same (especially) goes for kids. Utilizing that in our shoot will help me get natural and authentic portraits of your family.
3. What type of portraits you gravitate to; candids or posed.
- I like giving a good mix in my galleries to clients. Posed, looking at the camera and smiling type pictures and fun candids where everyone is being authentic and in the moment. But if I know you prefer more candids over posed, I can spend our time together giving more prompts and playing more games than posing you in different configurations. And vice versa. In the end, these are your photos and I want you to love every one of them as much as I do.
These may seem simple, but trust me, they make a world of difference. Even something as small as saying, “hey, xx gets stressed about pictures because of how the kids behave, just tell xx multiple times during the shoot that they are doing great and the kids are being awesome!” Having this tool to use and pull out when needed makes the shoot go smoother and allows your family a chance to relax and enjoy our time together.
