Tuesday Tips & Pics - Guest Post by Gigi Marie, The Chic Homeschool Mama

Hi there!  I'm Gina, or better known as Gigi Marie the Chic Homeschool Mama.  I am a 30-something work at home, homeschooling mom to 3 fabulous kids who are my whole world.  Like many here in our blogging circle- I have always appreciated beautiful photography & wanted to learn how to document our lives in a beautiful way.  My blog is about my photography journey through our lives.

I am so happy & honored that Jaymi asked me to guest post today & occupy her space for a day.  I decided to use this opportunity to discuss the NUMBER 1 question I get asked on my blog...

How do you get your kids to smile & act so naturally in front of the camera??

If I had $1 for every time I have been asked this question- I could make a full time wage at this blogging gig. Well- the quick answer to that question is that I am lucky most of the time. My kids are generally very cooperative, helpful & courteous & 99% of the time they do what I ask- and they do it with a smile. So- I suppose you all are laughing because when I actually start doing client sessions- I am expecting to have a challenging experience with other people's children.  I'm hoping I can put into play some of my other tricks that I use when one of my 3 is having a less than cooperative day. 

1. Be prepared to take a lot of pictures.  I spent about an hour for this session in the video.  I came home with 141 images.  Out of those- I actually only liked about 25-30 & only processed 19.  During a client session- I will probably make it a goal to double those numbers.

2. You will see in many of these shots that I did mostly individuals.  I start there & use the other kids to crack jokes & make the one in front of the camera laugh & be genuine.  They know each other best & so I really use that.

3. I do try to get the group shots out of the way early in case one starts losing interest- that way I can resort to suggestion #2 later on & I am not the only one trying to coax all 3 for very long.  I try to make those my best ones & if everyone is still jovial towards the end, I will get them altogether again for some more.  With kids- I have learned to roll with it. 

4. If they start getting moody- I will distract them with something.  Either by turning off the camera & doing something different for a while or by enlisting their help with the props or the reflector.  This usually changes their mood because they are no longer focused on whatever it was that was bugging them. 

This video is of all my shots- start to finish from that session- no processing.  I figured it would help you see how the session flows & what we did in that hour.  As you can see from the video- there were plenty of shots where one was looking off or had a undesirable expression.  When I get a face that isn't great- I usually make a joke about it to them, which prompts them to laugh & when they do- I am ready with the camera to capture that genuine expression. I just sort through them all in the end & pick the favs & laugh off the rest.

Here are some of the final edits from this day.

This one has got to be an all time fav. Love those freckles. 

So that's it. Now you know & my secrets are out  :)

It's been a pleasure sharing with you all today.  Have a great week!