10 Tips on a Fun Photography Session for Kids( Review of Tomato Photo)

My Cute little Tiger Girl
It isn’t easy taking family photographs being the photographer of the family. Many a times I have to forgo having myself in the picture in order to capture the expressions of the kids and R in the photo. Sometimes I really wish that we could have another person standing by so that we would be able to capture more family photos. It would be really great that we could have professionally taken photos of the family as it would certainly be great mementos for the kids when they look back on their childhood later as adults.
Your could say that my wish came true when we were offered a photo session with Tomato Photo. It has been a long time since we took photos as a family. I remember the last time we had a family photo session was 5 years ago back in Hong Kong. I have been thinking of going for a family photo session since Tiger girl was born. This was just nice!!

Our family
Here are some tips on the things that you can do during to make the photo taking session more comfortable for the kids.
1.Arrive early and load up the kids on food before the photo taking session starts.
We had arranged to have our photo taking session at Botanic Gardens in the evening so we went there around tea so that the kids could have a snack least they get grouchy due to hunger pangs.
2. Dress the kids in comfortable clothes
It would certainly look good in the photograph if the kids were wearing color coordinated clothes however if the material results in the kid feeling uncomfortable or they have to constantly tug at the collars or have their movement restricted it’s certainly a no-no!! I rather the child enjoy the session then to be constantly whining and grumbling about being uncomfortable.
3.Give lots of allowance for the child to prepare for the outing.
Having to rush to the photo session from swimming lesson or from a play date will result not only in grumpy kids but a flustered parent too. In the end everyone looks less then ideal as both the kids and parents are not in a good mood.

The grandparents and the grand kids
4.Let the grandparents and the grand kids take centre stage.
What better way to let both the young and old to bond with each other then to let them take more photographs together.

Another shot of the kids with their grandparents.
5.Encourage spontaneity within limits.
Mobility declines with age so when choosing where and how to stand you need to take note that the chosen pose is suitable for older folk and simple enough for the kids to take cue.

The boys jump shot
6.Let the kids have fun
Who says that all photos taken has to be poise and proper? Kids are the happiest when they are allowed to do things which they love. As you can see the jumping is something which the boys really love doing.

Our family of Five
7.Get a good family shot for the yearly Christmas Card/ Chinese New Year Card.
Nobody says that it is a must to take family photos only during festive seasons. We are doing ours up in advance this year. With this family shot we are all ready to send our our yearly Christmas greetings this 2013 to family and friends.

The 3 kids
8.Capture fun moments of the kids
These are the moments which are priceless and certainly a highlight in their lives. They make good pictures to add into their wedding montage when they do decide to tie the knot in the future.

Tiger Girl and Me
9.Take shots with each individual kid
It is very seldom that I do get my photo taken with each kid and having shots taken with each one of them will certainly give me some to put in their personal photo albums. It was great to have a professional photographer taking shots for me this time round.

The grandparents
10.Create a hard copy photo book as a gift.
Nowadays all the photos that we take are in digital format. It is really seldom that we print out the photos that we take and compile it as a book. With this photo taking session we were given a 20 page 6″ by 6″ printed book and it was just prefect for the grandparents to take back to Hong Kong. Now they have something to look at and to share with the other relatives and I have the prefect present for them for Mother’s/Father’s Day 🙂
My thoughts on the photo taking session
Although Hart takes good but I feel that he could drastically improve on his customer service. It took multiple e-mails from me to confirm the timing for the the photo taking session to the delivery of the photos which all could have been avoided if the estimated duration of delivery and SOP was stated clearly upfront. .
Disclaimer: We were offered a photo taking session with a photo book by Tomato Photo. All opinions are 100% my own.
April 15, 2013 @ 1:49 pm
Beautiful pictures. I love the idea that grandparents were in the pictures too!!
April 15, 2013 @ 1:53 pm
Nice photos and tips dom! I’m looking forward to my session too 🙂
April 15, 2013 @ 1:54 pm
Love that jump shot of the boys with Tiger Girl…and v meaningful to involve grandparents in the shoot too 🙂 Beautiful Family!
April 15, 2013 @ 2:47 pm
I love that you have three generations in your shoot! Sweet! And cool tips too! =)
April 15, 2013 @ 4:42 pm
Thanks for the tips. I can use this in the future.
April 15, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
I love photos shot in a natural environment and not in a studio. Nice pics!
April 15, 2013 @ 5:12 pm
Love the 3 kids photos. So precious and priceless indeed.
April 15, 2013 @ 6:09 pm
Great family pictures. Kids are really spontaneous so better let them have fun and enjoy. I have worked with kids before but not on photography, it’s on film and it was really fun though it’s hard as well.
April 15, 2013 @ 6:45 pm
Oh, great shots of the whole family. And thanks for the tips, very useful! 🙂 My boys don’t like their photos taken actually. The tips might work with them. LOL
April 15, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
these pictures are great keepsakes! very nice. i’m sure you have a lot to put on picture frames it’s going to be hard to choose.
April 15, 2013 @ 10:27 pm
These photos are beautiful! I love the one with the kids jumping, it’s so fun!
April 15, 2013 @ 11:42 pm
They are all wonderful but you can’t get any better than the one of the grandparents and grandchildren. Such happiness.
April 16, 2013 @ 2:10 am
Great tips. I would love if my family would behave for fantastic photos like yours here.
April 16, 2013 @ 8:24 am
These pictures are amazing. I looove the element of spontaneity, and my personal favorites are the photos with the grandparents!!! I really enjoyed this.
April 16, 2013 @ 8:49 am
Love the boys jumping shoot the most.
We use tripod if we wanna take family picture on our own
April 16, 2013 @ 8:52 am
@Shook,
That’s my favourite shot too 🙂 Haven’t tried a tripod yet but may do so in the future.
April 16, 2013 @ 10:37 am
These are great tips and it reminds me that I need to get our family photos done very soon.
April 16, 2013 @ 11:19 am
Great tips! I love love the jumpshot!
April 16, 2013 @ 12:42 pm
terrific family bonding…
love your photos and your tips
April 16, 2013 @ 2:16 pm
Nice photos. Your kids especially Tiger girl is so adorable. I kept on looking on her photo. Her smile is so contagious, I am actually smiling all by myself now.
Mommy Maye
April 16, 2013 @ 3:22 pm
That’s a fun photo taking session. The photos turned out beautifully.
April 16, 2013 @ 9:22 pm
Great pics of the family Tiger Girl is your mini-me!! 🙂
April 16, 2013 @ 11:25 pm
great tips, and wonderful photos!
April 17, 2013 @ 12:23 am
That first picture of Tiger Girl is SO precious!! Love all the shots – great advice!! 🙂
April 17, 2013 @ 10:04 am
Great family pics! Love the spontaneity of the jumping one!
April 17, 2013 @ 12:19 pm
These are fantastic pics Dominique! Great pics too! Looks like they really had some fun!
April 18, 2013 @ 3:28 am
Great tips, and wonderful images! I love the one with the boys jumping!! So clear, and great expressions!!
April 20, 2013 @ 12:43 pm
You have excellent tips on how to get kids to cooperate and take great photos! So true about the comfortable clothes too–every time I dressed my daughter in a dress or costume she was miserable taking pictures. I let her wear her regular clothes and she’s a different child!
April 29, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
Wonderful poses and shots. Very natural and the result shows such a loving family.