Escape everyday life - off to the photo studio with the family

Posted by Zürich on 13.January 2022 in category Family,Inspiration

1 family (father, mother, child 5 years, child 3 years), 3 cameras, 3 backgrounds, 20 minutes time. Goal: beautiful photos AND finally photos with four people = impossible?

Not true. It is possible and it is also fun. OK, I’ll correct that – it’s fun for everyone, except the mother, who is usually exhausted and sweaty after these 20 minutes. But these 20 minutes of work are VERY often worthwhile…

How to prepare with small children BEFORE and AFTER the shoot. Here are a few tips – what makes my children tick…

  • Choose the right time for the shoot

Hungry children: difficult!
Tired children: even more difficult!
Children who have fallen asleep in the car: impossible!

You know your kids – pick the time slot where they are most likely to be fit and happy!

  • Bribery, the first: BEFORE the shoot.

Bribery usually works pretty well – even in early childhood (I very rarely resort to this, of course). Promise the kids, if they are fully on board for the 20 minutes, an ice cream or half an hour of TV after the shoot. I don’t know what makes other children tick, but it works pretty well with mine.

  •  Go through the procedure of the shoot with the children.

For example, you could agree that the first 15 minutes the parents decide what is to be done. The last 5 minutes are for the children to decide. e.g. jumping photos, photos with their favourite accessories etc.

  • Take your favourite accessories yourself

How sweet it is in later years when you can recognise your own children’s cuddly bunny, nushie or doll baby in the photo.

  • Bribery, the second one: DURING the shoot

If there is an incident during the shoot, it’s time to use bribery 2. The best way to do this is to use the little gummy bear packs. Put 1 bear in your mouth, chew it quickly and you’re ready for the next picture. Attention: no lollipops (lollipop pictures really don’t look good), Maoam or similar are also not recommended (it takes forever until the chewing is done).

  • Do not want too much

Decide on a maximum of 2 backgrounds
Decide in advance on 2-3 poses or motifs that you absolutely want – let the rest come about by “chance”.

  • Don’t hand over the sceptre (in our case the remote control).

Electronics are fascinating – not only for the fathers, but also for the children. Once the children have understood how the shutter works and you give it away, the great pictures are probably over. So dear mothers: don’t let the sceptre out of your hands – not even during the agreed time when the children are allowed to decide what they do.

  • Additional tip for strong nerves.

To be honest, this tip didn’t come from me: a client who came to our studio on the recommendation of a friend told me this with a smile. My friend said, “Take your flask with you!” A sip before and after never hurt anyone.

The nice thing about children is that you can be prepared for one eventuality or another, but in the end things turn out quite differently anyway. But that’s the beauty of it. Let your children be who they are. And this naturalness and authenticity will be reflected in your pictures. The more relaxed you are (which brings us back to the flask), the more relaxed the children will be.

Even if you come out and think there really wasn’t anything there, I’ll tell you: There’s always something there! I am always fascinated by how great and unique pictures are created in our studio.

Then I wish you a lot of fun at your next PRESS THE BUTTON Shooting.

Yours, Martina