Child
Portraits
The experience:
Portraits are captured at your child’s preschool / daycare both individually and as a group / class. For some preschoolers, this is their first school portrait experience. It can be a scary new experience. For others, they’ve had portraits done already and it wasn’t a happy time. Whatever the reason, my mission is to make this a fun time. If it is, their joy will come out.
I specialize in natural light photography so all of the images will be outside with minimal props.
Each child will experience a"tiny-session" – a 3 to 5 minute portrait shoot where I actually talk to them and try to get genuine smiles! I have a little boy of my own, so I am well-versed in kid shows, song lyrics, and toddler humor. If your child appears to be bashful or seems to be be non-cooperative or cries, I will give him or her another try after letting their little emotions settle.
I will take a few seconds just to let the child do what they think they’re supposed to do: say “cheese” and stand stiffly. Then, I allow them to have a little fun, to capture their true expressions. The ones you see when you’re playing with them, telling them a story, and when they are telling you a story.
Picture Day!
Respect the little ones.
I come to your school at no cost and will photograph each child individually and as a class. Every child gets 3+ poses: a full-length photo, a close-up, and one on a colorful background. If any siblings attend the same childcare facility, they are also photographed together. Each age group or class can be photographed with their teachers, on chairs in the classroom for class photos.
I will work with you so you have an easy, convenient and successful Picture Day.
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Provide me with a Class Roster.
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Review any special needs with me.
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Provide me with information for siblings to be photographed together.
I typically ask that teachers and parents do not “help” with the photography. Simply put, it works better without another helper due to the child often looking in the direction of the "helper" versus the photographer. Also, it’s stressful getting your photos taken, especially if multiple people are directing you.
However, if a child feels uncomfortable, I always let a safe and familiar person such as parent helper, a teacher, or a parent hold their hand or stand next to them. I often have outside siblings join in picture day, to help ease the butterflies they may be experiencing. They are there ONLY for a presence and not to instruct the session. This usually works to where the child becomes comfortable.
It’s easy to boss around little people, but picture day is meant to be fun and exciting! There's no need to get all uptight; it’s a photo session. So, I don’t get mad if a child chooses not to smile or stand still. I work with what I can get from them. I ask for permission to brush aside any stray hair or to remove/put back on their glasses, etc. I converse with them and ask them a little about themselves. They know when people respect them, so trust builds. I love at the end of the session, when they're all excitedly waving hello or goodbye.
Pricing and ordering
Photos are available online for ordering within 1-2 weeks. Parents will have a 7-10 day ordering window. Digital images are delivered immediately following ordering and prints are delivered in 1 week if parents pay for shipping to their home and 2-3 weeks for no shipping fee and delivery to the school. Class composites take approximately 4 weeks and will be shipped to the school. An email is sent to the school to distribute to the parents which contains the username and password to access the photos; online ordering is open for two weeks. After ordering is closed, the images all receive basic retouching (boo-boos and boogies) and are ordered from a professional lab. They are then inspected and delivered to the school in labeled envelopes for each family. Digital images are emailed to the families directly.
There is no cost for the photo session. I will provide you with a "School Picture Day" handout for the families with helpful information. There are several packages to select from offering prints and options for digital images too.
A few tips
A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND…
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Choose clothing without logos or characters.
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This backdrop is very simple so you can wear colors or neutrals and both will look beautiful.
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Please be sure your little angel is dressed from head to toe, including matching shoes. Also, feel free to have your child wear a hat or a headband!
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If possible it would be really appreciated if you could make sure your child has clean shoes for the session.