Going to our first photo shoot -- portrait innovations

[hillview]

I am last minute doing a photo shoot tomorrow. It is our first. DH's bday is Friday and I got NOTHING. Any tips?

- better to dress boys alike?
- worth it to do a christmas pose?
- the boys have: jeans; black cord pants; white collared shirts; red holiday sweaters; thing 1 and thing 2 t-shirts how does this sound?

Other hints?
TIA!
/hillary

[mom2binsd]

Keep the outfits simple, not too many patterns, plain is best/let the boys smiles and personalities be the focus not the clothing ...sometimes PI backgrounds are also busy....make sure you like what they put as background, my major complaint is they often have a very stark white background....when it comes time to choose the pictures have someone else watch the kids so you can focus, it's almost impossible to choose with kids close by.

[brittone2]

You can see their background on their website for holiday pics if you are curious. It might help in the outfit planning.

I have really liked their holiday backgrounds through the years...IMO they are less tacky or weird as compared to some other portrait studios we've come across.

They allow an outfit change so when we go for Christmas pics (I think we are skipping them this year as I got a good pic for cards on my own for once!), I usually bring a non-holiday themed outfit for each kid and do some shots like that. DD's bday is also in December so it is nice to get a shot of her near each birthday since we are there. I usually end up spending a bit because I end up with some solo pics of DD, some solo pics of DS, a holiday portrait of both of them together, and then a non-holiday portrait of both of them together.

For non-holiday photos I usually ask for just a plain black or white background...more my style. I can't remember what backgrounds they've offered before but I know when DD was small they had a fake sky type background and that was kinda not my style, and i know in the summer I've seen fake beach scenes, etc. but not as tacky as some studios. I personally prefer just a plain black or white background depending on their outfits and what we're looking for.

[Tondi G]

jeans and white shirts are great for pics. You may as well do a Christmas shot while you are there. I always tried to do at least one clothing change when I took my kiddos!

You don't have to dress them the same. I kinda like each of my kids having their own style in pics. similar but not exactly the same works nicely too.

Good Luck, hope you get some great shots!

[SnuggleBuggles]

The best pics I have of the boys is when they were wearing black, longsleeved shirts. The attention went to their faces rather than a distracting shirt. Simple is best.

FYI- read my post from earlier today comparing PI experiences. Mine was pretty miserable wrt the big upsell at the end. It took a long time to get through all the pictures, so keep that in mind. You might not want to have a lot of wardrobe changes b/c that will just make an already long process even longer. JMO. :)

Beth