Paging Bryce (and others) for baby & toddler ideas!
This weekend. LIfestyle/pj-ish at their home, although you just know that some picture-perfect portrait-y type shots will go down well if I can get them (although baby-in-a-basket stuff isn't want they're looking for, fingers, toes, and baby butts are all welcome).
2 year old, and newborn.
After the fiasco with the last 2yo, asking for ideas now! I have all the suggestions from last time, of course (but that didn't account for a newborn).
And..... GO!!! All suggestions warmly welcomed :thumb
2 year old, and newborn.
After the fiasco with the last 2yo, asking for ideas now! I have all the suggestions from last time, of course (but that didn't account for a newborn).
And..... GO!!! All suggestions warmly welcomed :thumb
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With the newborn, you're on your own. I suck at newborns.
With the two year old, now that's a different story. Is the 2-year-old a boy or a girl?
It does! I guess I'm not a PC kind of guy and think gender should be factored in when shooting a two-year-old. I mean hey, we retouch adult men and women differently, why shouldn't toddlers be photographed differently.
1. Not to be unkind, but the average two-year-old has the attention span of a gnat. You have to constantly be introducing things that are new and interesting to them (about every 5-minutes) to hold their attention. Either bring a variety of props and things that will interest them with you or arrange to have mom and dad to have a bevy of things ready for you when you get there.
2. Play little games with them. Get the involved with an activity that challenges or interests them and grab shots while they are involved. You already know about my little tea party set ( I don't do this with boys). With that set, I get it set up and put a coin or piece of candy in the cream pitcher. I will rattle it, show it to them and then pour it from one cup to another. This almost never fails to get them to repeat the process. I use that to get candids and then grab their attention to look at me and use my little tricks to get them to smile too.
3. I like to do "mommy and daddy's jobs" shots with two year olds. Say for instance daddy is a lawyer. Get a couple of legal pads, a pda, a brief case maybe a law book or two, put the kid in a dress shirt and one of daddy's ties and make a set making sure you have some items that will draw the child's interest, maybe a piece of candy, under one of the pages of a legal pad and put a pen in one of her hands. Really cool shots can be gotten of the child trying to get the candy from under the legal pad. If dad or mom is a business person, the same set can be used and ad a Wall Street Journal to the mix. You get the idea, get creative with whatever the parents do for a living. One of my favorite session ever was when dad was a chef and I found a little chef hat and built a set around that with tomatoes, peppers etc. etc.
3. Light the set for a little person. 2-year-olds do not like to sit still. If you try to get them to do so and they don't want to, session is over or you will miss priceless shots because they are out of your defined light sweet spot. Remember, you are getting them to "play". Kids don't play in one spot.
I like to set up a two umbrella light system at this age up to 4. Main at 5.6 and fill at 2.8. The umbrellas cast a wide pattern of light and if set right will still give you some shapes.
Those were just some of the thoughts that instantly popped into my head. As more pop up, I will post for you.
Regards,
Example. Pretty easy to guess what this little girls dad or mom does for a living. Introduced the teddy bear and stethoscopes set and had about 5 minutes to grab shots before she was bored with it and "outta here".
Mom is a singer, and I'm not sure what dad does. I know they like a very modern, "clean" style in mama's promotional images (not mine, I'll add, although she wants me to do some in the spring once she's recovered and the weather's nicer!!). I think they just want interaction shots of big sis and the new interloper
YUP! Start thinking like Mr. Rodgers with a dose of Barney thrown in for good measure.
Mom is a singer, and I'm not sure what dad does. I know they like a very modern, "clean" style in mama's promotional images (not mine, I'll add, although she wants me to do some in the spring once she's recovered and the weather's nicer!!). I think they just want interaction shots of big sis and the new interloper
A really clean set could be made with white background and a microphone. You could also use the same white background and introduce a children's hard cover book or better yet, sheet music and try to get the 2 year old to read it to the newborn?