Back 2 School Photo Tips

DIY Photoshoot TIPS:

1. Make sure to get photos of all the things you want to remember from the year: (This will come in handy when your kids go off to college and you FINALLY get to their baby books)

- New Backpack
- Hair Cut
- Teeth/Smile
-  Height
- Shoe Size
- Favorite Book
- Them writing their name or a sentence
- Grade (Of course)

2. Get In Focus - As long as your photos are good quality you can always spend time editing them later. If you don't have the funds to hire a photographer for this shoot every year just make sure to store all the originals somewhere because you can pay an editor later or use www.Picmonkey.com to do your own editing.

3. Get different angles - A lot of times, parents tower over their children when taking pictures and then their poor child looks like a bobble head... which is a cute concept but we want to see your child full frame as well... Pull back and squat down to be at your child's level. Take some over head shots and squat low to get an upward angle as well.

4. Fancy Focus - Unless you have a professional lens that can regulate DOF (Depth of Field) just make sure to get your kid in focus and you can edit blurry things later.

5. Get out of the Sun - Just because your kid looks cute on the grass doesn't mean that the photo will look good. If your subject is being blasted with sun they are more likely to squint of give you false smiles. Play in the fully shaded areas and you can brighten pics later. Blotchy photos are the worst so try to stay out of the streaky sun spots and always try to keep the sun a little behind you and not your subject, unless you are going for a silhouette.

6. Have Fun - Don't force your kids to take pictures. I like to capture video while I am shooting to show people how fun photos can be for kids. You can have a silly face contest and making silly faces usually results in real smiles soon after... Just hold of on the shooting until the final outburst of real smiles comes out.  - My girls love to dance so you can yell FREEZE in the midst so not to get a blurry shot.

7. Don't Sweat it - Don't feel like these have to get done before school starts. You can always plan them for Thanksgiving break every year or just a weekend that is free, but get them on the calendar because they are worth it!