Q. Toddler Photoshoots

Princess_Lily

We went to JcP Portraits the other day, and the studio was not prepared to take photos with a very  active toddler and we ended up walking out.

 

We're preparing to make some DIY photos with the hubbys' HD camera.  But for those who had sucessful photoshoots with your toddlers, what "props" were used?  Any tips for a successful shoot? 

CalinsBride

If you mean Christmas photos, you can check out my signature for examples.

For DS, I try to put him in something for photos. A box, a tub, a basket, etc. He is usually intrigued enough by this to sit still for two minutes and not run away.

Also, just take as many pictures as possible. Just keep snapping so you don't miss anything.

And, this is really important, make sure you take a test shot before you get your LO anywhere near your set-up. So pull out your camera, take a test shot, make sure you're standing in the right place, that you can get everything in, that the lighting is good, etc, etc, and THEN get your DH to bring your LO over. If you end up messing around with your settings while your LO is there, you are going to miss a prime picture-taking window and your LO is going to get sick of having her photo taken by the time you get everything figured out. I've learned this the hard way

 

Sage Mommy

A good one to get a toddler to stay in the same spot is wrapping presents. Use a few prewrapped boxes and loose wrapping paper, ribbon and bows.

And ITA with Calins about setting up the shot before so you can just snap away when LO is in the picture.

mechanicsgirl

ITA with Calins about setting up the shot (and, if you know how to use them, use manual settings). 

I have a few examples in my signature as well.  Those were taken with a fleece backdrop.  I tacked it (tightly) to the wall, left the bottom loose and pulled it away from the wall a little, and put a piece of plexiglass down on top.  You could use all sorts of Christmas-y props with it.

Princess_Lily

Wow, you guys have some awesome tips!

 

 I was thinking about taking DS to the park and setting up a box with wrapping paper...but I lurve the white fleece & plexiglass look too!  Where would you even buy plexiglass?  We dont have any in the house.  did you need any special lighting stuff?  I know the light source has to face the person your shooting to not get the shadow look. 

 

calin...TY because I never even thought of test shots and they make sense when you think about it. 

NHMountainBride

We went to a photographer who has a studio on her house.  It wasn't easy, but she got a few good shots.  She took about 100, and about 20 of them came out nice.  We got some great pictures by putting fruit snacks inside christmas boxes!  The only problem with that is that she's chewing in a lot of the pictures.    Good luck!

Princess_Lily

NHMountainBride:

We went to a photographer who has a studio on her house.  It wasn't easy, but she got a few good shots.  She took about 100, and about 20 of them came out nice.  We got some great pictures by putting fruit snacks inside christmas boxes!  The only problem with that is that she's chewing in a lot of the pictures.    Good luck!

 

We thought of that, but its just not in our budget to do that. 

NHMountainBride

Princess_Lily:

NHMountainBride:

We went to a photographer who has a studio on her house.  It wasn't easy, but she got a few good shots.  She took about 100, and about 20 of them came out nice.  We got some great pictures by putting fruit snacks inside christmas boxes!  The only problem with that is that she's chewing in a lot of the pictures.    Good luck!

 

We thought of that, but its just not in our budget to do that. 

It was $50 for a half hour shoot.  We got a cd of 100 photos, including about 20 edited shots, with complete rights to use and order them from wherever.  I loaded them onto snapfish and got christmas cards and prints super cheap.  I don't know if you have a photographer that reasonable in your area, though!

Princess_Lily

What a steal!  Everything here is around 200+

Sage Mommy

Princess_Lily:

Wow, you guys have some awesome tips!

 

 I was thinking about taking DS to the park and setting up a box with wrapping paper...but I lurve the white fleece & plexiglass look too!  Where would you even buy plexiglass?  We dont have any in the house.  did you need any special lighting stuff?  I know the light source has to face the person your shooting to not get the shadow look. 

 

calin...TY because I never even thought of test shots and they make sense when you think about it. 

The hardware store. Lowe's actually has a machine that will cut it to size for you for free. Home depot doesn't (at least not at ours).

kimberlyk921

what do you guys do as far as lighting goes? 

Temp159135562506975

when griffin was this age we had a photoshoot with him eating Xmas cookies- it was the only way to get him to sit still

this year with the twins we did a photoshoot in the bathtub... they have seats they sit in- so that kept them in place.

otherwise- it's impossible to get a pic of them- they are WAY too active.

 

mechanicsgirl

Princess_Lily:

Wow, you guys have some awesome tips!

 

 I was thinking about taking DS to the park and setting up a box with wrapping paper...but I lurve the white fleece & plexiglass look too!  Where would you even buy plexiglass?  We dont have any in the house.  did you need any special lighting stuff?  I know the light source has to face the person your shooting to not get the shadow look. 

 

calin...TY because I never even thought of test shots and they make sense when you think about it. 

You can buy sheets of plexiglass (acryllic) at Home Depot - it'll look opaque because it has a film on it to protect it.  That just peels off.

 

I use a Lightscoop  for lighting to bounce the flash off the ceiling.  If you have a speedlite that would work better.

 

Cityplanner

We went to Sears and it was a disaster and I suspect any of those photo studio places will be similar.  Or maybe we just got a lousy photographer.  The camera was fixed and they needed DD to stay in one spot and they were only looking for shots where she was looking at the camera.   None of that was at all realistic.

The best shots of kids are ones where you can get down at their level and move around with them.  We did a photo shoot with a photographer like that over the summer and it was a world of difference.   I was hoping to do it a little cheaper this time, but I think I'd be better off doing my own "shoot" with my own camera in natural lighting in the future.

groovygrl

We ended up doing outdoor shots w/ a photographer but I was going to DIY and was planning to experiment w/ christmas lights b/c I saw some really cute ones on here last year like that. Basically sit the kid in front of whatever background, throw some xmas lights their way & turn em on. I imagine they'd be enthralled at them for at least a few minutes? 

Also goldie gave me the tip to not actually dim the lights, keep normal lighting, they still show up in the photos.

I love the idea of putting some sort of food in the xmas boxes to get them to reach inside. heehee. 

smilelari

If you want to do a pro photog, keep shopping around.  The one we normally use costs $600 to get all the high res images on DVD (the sitting is free), but we just booked with a different one that is newer and was running a black friday special.  Her fee is $120 including the shoot and all high res images on DVD.  She doesn't do as much editing but I am sure that we'll get better results than JCP or Target and it costs less.