Lillian’s Grandchildren
Most of today I spent at a softball tournament in Westminster and Winfield, Maryland. On the way home, I was witness to a rather horrific traffic accident. I’ll leave that one to the police and fire blogs. It’s not something I want to witness again.
When I got back to the studio, one of our best customers was on her way back to the studio. Lillian has brought grandchildren, great grandchildren, her dog and her husband (not necessarilly in that order). We enjoy every visit by Lillian and her relatives.
This was her son and wife, and their three kids. Of course, mom and dad just wanted pictures of the kids. It’s usually that way, and since I love kids so much I was just happy to have mom and dad in the camera room with us to help with the kids.
Isabelle, Griffin and Jacob were the kids. Jacob is the oldest at ten, Griffin is almost three and Isabelle is ten months. As always, I took somewhere over 60 images. And if I had room and time to post all my favorites, you’d be seeing LOTS of photos. But there are two that were standouts with Lillian and really epitomize the effort and timing that go into photos of children – it’s all about patience and timing.
Before I show you those photos, I want to share something with you that Lillian said when she was viewing the photos. Around Christmas time, her son and daughter-in-law had taken their children to the mall photographer. It was cheap, convenient and they had plenty of samples that looked “okay.” Just prior to taking photos, the sales associate pulled down a background while the children were in the set. This frightened Griffin and he cried for the entire length of the session.
If any of you have been to the mall photographer you know that they schedule sessions every 15 minutes to get as many photos taken as quickly as possible. That is how they can offer you the cheap fees they do, that and the “portrait club” and add-on type of things that drive up the price and which you will never use, or use rarely. The bottom line is that the pictures they ended up with showed Griffin crying in every photo. Happy Holidays, right?
In our studio, we allocate a minimum of two hours for each session with children. This is terribly important. We always spend at least the first few minutes of that session getting to know the kids, letting them get used to our place and playing with some of the toys we have. Only after they start getting settled in do we start taking pictures. And with each flash of the lights, we make a face or silly noise that makes it seem like fun.
Two hours later we have a lot of images. Yes, we have our share of crying kids. But in the end, after 15 minutes we’re not going to shove you out the door because we’re expecting someone else. That is a big difference between a professional studio and the mall photographer.
Now, on to the photos.
