September 3, 2013

Back-to-School Photo Shoot Ideas

Over the Labor Day weekend, Emma and I went on our FIRST EVER photo-shoot. When I say first ever, it was my first official time preparing and taking pictures for the sole purpose of shooting her Kindergarten pictures, and Emma's first time actually going to a location just so I could take her pictures.  

Although some of the images are blurry, I think we had a great time and I was able to find out where my strength's and weaknesses are.  There will definitely be more practice before I would feel comfortable shooting for anyone outside of the family.



Here are a few things I considered before we headed out.

Weather and Timing: Outside photo's always look great, so we had to choose the day with the best weather.  It's also wise to plan your shoot in the morning or evening hours when the sun is not at it's brightest.  Fortunately we were in a shady area for most of the pictures so I had to work with the dappled sun coming through.

Inspiration: There is so much inspiration on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to really get the ideas going.  If your planning on doing any photo shoot's in the near future, take a look at these three great sites to help spark your creativity.  Consider the season, area's around you and what they have to offer, what do you want to capture or portray in your images, and how many subjects will be in the photo's?  This can help narrow down your list of idea's.  Jot down of the different poses you would like to achieve.




Rhonna Designs App:  Many people are using chalk board signs to show the school grade, date, and even school name.  Since I didn't think of this until last minute I used the Rhonna Designs App on my iPhone to create an image.  There are probably many different Apps you can use, or even PicMonkey if you prefer to create something on the computer.  Once I had perfected the image, I emailed it to myself and was able to pull it up on the iPad.  Save to your camera roll. Pull up the image and wait a second for the screen display to disappear so you only have your image.  ** I still have to figure out how to remove the glare from the screen, and change out the iPad screen protector so that there aren't bubbles on the screen. 







Photo Props:  Thinking back, I would have liked to have taken the image below of Emma on the quilt her Grandma made for her when she was born.  She probably would have preferred it too, over the itchy grass!  Consider if you have something sentimental or maybe an heirloom item that might work well in the pictures.  This is also a great idea if you are planning on sending any pictures to family members that may have given you the items.


It's not too late to get out and take those back to school pictures.  Just make sure that you plan ahead so that you have your ideas together and the little one's don't get distracted, and make sure you pack all of your necessary photo prop's.  

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