WHAT TO WEAR? Child wardrobe tips for photo sessions.

More than any other question, I am always asked by clients what they should wear to their family session. Coordinating your outfits can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! 

Wether you're getting ready for your child photography session, or you're planning to take some nice shots of your child yourself, here are a few tips that will help you to get ready for it:

1. Timeless always has a place. I love when my clients show up to a shoot with the most simple and timeless of outfits. A smock dress that belonged to Great-Grandma. A plain white lace dress with a simple bow. A plain diaper cover. Naked baby! These outfits (or lack thereof) will always stand the test of time, and will never go out of style.

2. Dress your kiddos in clothes that fit perfectly, not with room to grow. Even if you child may only wear the outfit for a few months, it’ll look much better than putting them in something that they still need to grow into. Go a size smaller in jackets, cardigans or blazers. A too-big jean jacket, blazer, sweat shirt, sweater or hoodie will not compliment shape. It looks sloppy on children.

3. Shoes are a very important part of wardrobe. If you have the cutest little trousers and button down for your son to wear for pictures, but slap his favorite pair of Disney tennis shoes on him, it makes the whole look lose cohesiveness.  Stay away from character shoes, flip flops, crocs. My recommendation for shoes are boots, leather sandals. And always, barefoot is an adorableoption, especially with babies. I’d much rather see bare feet than the bottom of their shoes.

4. Remember, coordinating your childrens’ outfits is key. Not matching.

5. Layers are just as important for child wardrobe as it is for yours. Hats, glasses, vests, bow ties, cardigans, tights or leggings under a skirt. TEXTURES ARE YOUR FRIEND! 

6. Hair piece tips. For babies, toddlers and older girls, I always recommend keeping hair accessories simple. When they are too big (think “gerber daisy” big), it distracts from their faces. The only time I think you can get away with a bigger hair accessory is when the child has lots of hair, or long hair. Even if your baby girl doesn’t have a ton of hair, don’t feel the need to hide that adorable head behind a huge whoppin’ head piece that makes her angry because she’s pulling it off every few seconds. Simple and dainty is just as pretty and understated.

7. The most important part of putting together your child’s wardrobe is allowing their personality to come through in what they’re wearing. If your daughter has a favorite pair of boots, let her wear them (at least in a few pictures). If your son prefers to run around naked to being fully clothed, we’ll let him strip down at the end of the session. If your child loves to wear hats and sunglasses, bring them! Whatever makes your child their own adorable, individual self, let’s focus on those things. Yes, we all want our children to look adorable and fully polished for photos. I’m not recommending you don’t brush your daughter’s hair or forget wiping off the smudged PB&J off your toddler’s face, but allow them to have a little bit of input when planning their wardrobe as well. And never say “no” to bringing their favorite things along. Photographers want to capture those, too.

How to take awesome photos of your kids. From snapshots to stunning images.

We all watch our children growing fast and we all want to capture and preserve the precious moments before they’re gone! But what is it that we really want to hold onto? What is it that we are going to miss so much and we desperately want to protect from forgetting?

Is it the way our precious children look? Their facial expressions? Certainly!

It’s also much more than just that… We are attached to emotions, personalities and the good feelings that warm our hearts…

This is why my photography is called 'Emotional Photography'. I always aim to capture not only the unique beauty of the person, but also their characters, the family dynamics, feelings and real emotions in the most beautiful way.

YOU TOO CAN LEARN HOW TO TAKE STUNNING PHOTOS OF YOUR KIDS!

You can create images that evoke emotions, not only yours but also others, and share moments on a deeper level…

Most of all, you can take photos that will make you feel exactly the same way as at the time of capturing them! Because emotions, personalities or the way you feel about the subject can be captured!

1. THINK ABOUT THE SUBJECT

Imagine there is a moment when you feel like ‘Wow, I must capture this!'. Please, do not take your camera and shoot with abandon! You will end up with hundreds of photos of the same moment, thinking that you are going to keep the best one that is accidently a tiny bit better then the rest of them. Most of the time however you end up saving all of them, because you simply do not have time for going through them all over and over again, and often you feel too attached to all of the photos. But believe me, other people will not feel the same way about them! They probably won’t tell you this, because they are too nice.

Before you take a shot, think for a split second. Think about your subject, what is it about this moment that makes you feel this way.  

Is it the whole room full of other items, eating people, mess in the background? Probably not…

Or is it a special moment, like a child playing with a worm, a baby eating or walking, or is it something about the child at that moment? An emotion perhaps or a frown?

Once you know it, focus on that only.

2. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT

Once you know what your subject is, think about the source of light.

I love light. I think light can evoke emotions on it’s own.

Again, don’t just shot from wherever you are. Think and move around a little bit to see for yourself how does it look like from different angles. If you can move the subject, or if you are planning to take a few shots, move the child to the best lighting conditions! Closer to a large window perhaps, or under a tree... It will make a huge difference! .

3. FRAME THE MOMENT! 

Framing or cropping the image is really important. I often get goosebumps from just seeing what difference it makes! It’s mind blowing sometimes!

What it does, it enhances your message!

So again, think about what is it that is making you feel ‘ahhh’ at the moment, and capture exactly that! There is nothing interesting in seeing a wall on half of the photo above someone's head (except if it's a stunning one and that's the whole story). Ignore the rest! 

Imagine you see your child greedily eating an ice cream, his face in a mess, but so happy! And you’re like ‘Oh Yeah!’, quickly grab the camera and frame the situation! Ignore the pram, ignore other people, ignore the rest of his body even, anything that distracts an eye from what you loved about that moment. Frame that happy, messy face licking the ice cream.

One more thing about framing. Please, do not place your subject in the centre all the time (and most of the time).  Most people do not know this, but this is the place our eye is least attracted to. There are four really strong points and lines that our eye spots first and our brain reads with ease. It’s called ‘The Rule of Thirds’.

Let me demonstrate what it means and the difference it makes.

A beautiful moment caught in a centre. I must admit I still love it, as it focus purely on the connection between the mother and her child... 

These 4 points and lines are the strongest ones, that are pleasing to our eyes, These are the ones we notice first. 

I usually try to place the most important informations there (such as an eye, a horizon, the main subject)...

I would say that these two, the left ones- top and bottom, are the strongest points for most because our brain has been trained to read from left to right (and top to bottom), unlike in some other countries from right to left (such us Arabic, Hebrew or Syriac), for them two right points would be the strongest. Amazing! I know!

What a cutie! Placed in a centre, nothing interesting in the key points and lines. Still lovely, but could be a lot better.

First of all the main subject is in the strong line position and the two crossing points. One of the points is exactly where I want everyone's eyes to focus, which is the feet. The horizon is also placed with one of the lines, which is pleasing to most. 

4. CREATE OPPORTUNITIES!

There are days when you think: ‘Oh gosh, they grow so fast. I must take some photos of them’! Or you would like to take some photos of your kids to send to your family. So you are planning to take a few shots.

Don’t wait for something magical to happen, make it happen!

It’s great, because you can create best possible scenarios. First of all, search for the best, soft light (such as a large window, or take your kids to a park, a beach on a late afternoon, or a shady place). Prepare and clear the space and be creative with props. Think of something your kids will love and stay occupied with. This way they will most likely stay at one spot and you won’t have to pose them! And you don't want to pose them! They don’t have to look at the camera all the time! You can gently call them to look at you once or twice, but please, for goodness sake, don’t say ‘SMILE’ and don't make them say ‘CHEESE’! Their faces look so fake when you do that! Make them smile if you want to, but make them smile for real! Be creative with it. But I find that the photos of children being in a creative, occupied, playing zone are the most beautiful ones.

Obviously there are exceptions to everything, and everyone has different thoughts and ideas, but these four simple tips will help you make conscious decisions when taking photos. You may feel a bit frustrated at first, but it will become easier with time of practicing. And when you will get the importance of subject, light and composition, and once you feel confident in using this knowledge, you become more and more creative... 

So from now on, every time you take a photo of your bundle of joy, think of what you are taking a photo of, observe light, frame the moment and take meaningful images. Create opportunities for amazing photos, don’t be afraid to try new things and remember, YOUR IMAGINATION IS YOUR LIMITATION! With new experience come new ideas. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Print the ones you like the most.

Most importantly, ENJOY IT!

Please, let me know if you found the reading useful and feel free to share it. Leave a comment, if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them! And share your photos in the comments too! I'd love to see what you come up with! :) 

Good luck    :) 

Emotional Photography

Maja Szumylo

If you feel like you need a holiday from work then it's time to change it.

I have just come back from an amazing holiday at the Whitsundays that we went on as a family together, and even though I enjoyed every second of it, I could not wait to be back to editing the photos my clients are waiting for... Not because I felt any pressure but because I know that there are some amazing, true, magical moments waiting to be enhanced... 

Jetting over The Heart Reef in Whitsundays, Queensland. An awesome present from my awesome husband! Love you darling!

This was a beautiful realisation for me. I am at this point in my life now, that not only am I happy with my awesome family we created, but also, that I do for a living something that I truly love and enjoy. Doing it comes with ease! I think this was the first time in my life that while being on holidays I thought with excitement, that I could not wait to get back to work! What a fantastic feeling!

'You're so lucky', you may say... Well, this has nothing to do with luck. Yes, I am very blessed to have such an awesome and supportive husband, but those who have known me for long enough know how much time, work and determination it took me to get where I am now. 

I went through different jobs in my life. I was an activity therapist back in Poland (which I also absolutely loved), I was a housekeeper, cleaner, babysitter and waitress... But always in the back of my mind, these were just temporary jobs. I have NEVER wanted to be stuck in a job that isn't who I am... I always thought, that would be like dying a slow death. 

Photography has always been my passion, but for some reason I didn't think I could do this for a living. I always thought I would go back into activity therapy, or psychology, because I absolutely LOVE people. This must be why the vast majority of my photos feature people, their emotions caught in a moment, their relationships...

I prayed and contemplated about finding clarity in my life, and then it hit me. Funnily enough, I did't mention anything to Jack, my husband on the day I first thought about it, but that night, he said 'Have you thought about doing photography for a living'?

So there I was, with a one year old child, the second one about to pop out, doing cleaning jobs and traveling form Brisbane to the Gold Coast every week to The Academy of Design, which was a highly regarded photography course. Jack gave up one day of his working every week to stay at home with our daughter Milly, and then not long after, we were all travelling together with our brand new baby, who I was feeding every three hours! Loads of assignments in the meantime, and of course joys of motherhood, such us sleepless nights! Yet, I was always on time with all of my assignments, always on time at the college, reading and practicing every 'spare' second but never satisfied with my results. This kept me moving forward.

The business side of my job has always been a learning curve, and it still is of course. But I have always known I can not give up on this- my passion.

So here I am today, happy to be back at work... And it feels like breathing...

Seriously people, there is always a way to do what you truly like doing, that talking about it comes with ease, like breathing. And if that way isn't working, there are alternative ones. You may change the path but do not give up on your dream.

Maja Szumylo