Studio shoot with Preschoolers
Check out these cute photos of Lila and George which I took last year. Lila was only about two years old and George four years old. I warned their mum that it might be a tricky shoot due to their preschool age.
Instructing Children
When I do my fine art child portraits I usually instruct the child into different poses to create an old world look. Children under the age of five are hard to direct. That is just the way they are. Often parents don’t realise how crazy the studio shoot can become. So I often warn parents that I will get a photo, and I have never failed yet, but that I may not achieve the perfect style of a child over the age of five.
Over seven years old
Over the age of seven is even better in terms of following instruction. When the child gets to about 10 or 11 they are generally extremely easy to pose and instruct. However I still have children at this age really don’t want their photo taken.
What to do when a child doesn’t want their photo taken?
When I have a child who doesn’t want to be at the shoot I will often let them play with the hairdryer and be silly and be themselves. The photos will be “them” and the parents nearly always love these photos. These photos usually show the personality of the child and which this special to their parents.
Lila and George
Lila and George were so cute in the studio. I really enjoyed the shoot and could see the special relationship between them. Lila was very crazy but but that is normal for her age. George tried to make her do what I was asking and was squashing her face. That moment actually made a very humorous photo that showed their relationship.
A perfect shot
I got a perfect shot of George by himself sitting on my piano stool. And Lila provided the humour in the shoot. Her mum was saying, “This is just crazy!” I told her not to worry and that this was normal. In the end she really loved the photos, even the outtakes as I call them. These are the photos you won’t necessarily hang on your wall, but you might print for a photo album to remind you of the crazy shoot you just had!
A comment about lighting
I used Rembrandt lighting in a dark background to give quite a dark moody feel to the shoot. If you are not into this look I can do a lighter coloured background or textured background with brighter lighting. I will basically shoot what you want and then quite often add in a couple of shots that might challenge you, to see if you actually like it.
Quite often people will actually like the darker lighting even when they thought they wouldn’t. Lila and George’s mum was extremely happy with the final photos as was the whole family. It turned out to be a very successful shoot.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SHOOT LIKE THIS PLEASE FILL IN MY QUESTIONNAIRE!
