Family Portraits in the Strip District

What sons will do for their mom…

It’s not a secret that often moms are the ones who seek me out to schedule a photography session.  It’s the moms who are eager to have photos of their kids for the walls of their home, for scrapbooks, for sharing on Facebook, for Christmas cards…  Most of the time it’s the moms who are thinking and planning those things.  And time and again, I’ve seen the sweetest moments when a mom of boys shows up for a session.  It’s almost always clear that this is not the preferred activity for the boys.  It can often be a little challenging but again and again, I see the love that these boys (and the dads) have for their mom/wife and they set aside what they want all to make mom happy.  And my job is to do my best to capture that love.

So how can we make the best of the family portraits?

First off, location can be very important when you have reluctant subjects.  We started out with a cool urban location.  We worked away from crowds so that the boys wouldn’t feel embarrassed having an audience and not far to walk to for the littlest guy.  Then I tried to work quickly and with purpose.  For some families, my strategy is to take time for the kids to get comfortable with me and move through the session to get a variety of different shots and groups.  But that doesn’t work with all families.  When you have subjects that just want the experience done, you need to keep things moving.  Finally, you need to be aware of when your subjects can be pushed for a few more and when they are completely done. And remember, having a reward for the end is a good idea.

Fortunately, for this session, everyone was willing to cooperate and we got some great images but I had to work quickly!

Other tips for this session…

One of the boys had transition lenses in his glasses.  I regularly see people asking what to do about photographing people with glasses (how to avoid glare) and adding the tinted lenses can be even more challenging.  For this session, we did a mix with and without his glasses.  Not everyone is comfortable being photographed without their glasses so make sure you talk with your photographer about what you want.

For the images with the glasses, we hid the glasses in a purse for them to transition back to un-tinted.  While waiting for the glasses, I set up the pose.  Then we added the glasses and I shot quickly.  Even in the shade, they still transition pretty quickly but you could still see his eyes.  To avoid glare, it’s a lot of direction for they should position their heads- usually telling your subject to bring their chin down a little will help.  Unfortunately, that’s not always possible so I have developed so good editing skills to either remove the glare completely or minimize it.

So has it been a while since you had a family portrait because you have some reluctant subjects?  Contact me and let’s chat.  Portraits don’t have to be stressful and I’m confident we can come up with something to make it a fun experience for you and your family.