Lesson Info
16. Activity Tips for In-Home Shoots
Lessons
Class Introduction
09:59 2What is Lifestyle Family Photography?
06:36 3How to Get Started in Lifestyle Photography
14:42 4How to Market to Your Ideal Client
10:34 5How to Book Your First Client
27:49 6Pricing for Lifestyle Photography Sessions
26:05 7Steps to Book a Client Using Iris Works
23:01 8The Client Questionnaire
06:33Why Use a Family Guide?
05:44 10Live Shoot: Family In-Studio
21:07 11Live Shoot: Introduce Fun Activity
19:38 12Image Culling Process in Bridge
24:52 13Gear Recommendations for Shoots
11:10 14Tips to Create Authentic Shooting Sessions
07:25 15Plan an In-Home Shooting Session
08:33 16Activity Tips for In-Home Shoots
06:59 17Develop Your In-Home Session Flow
09:35 18Live Shoot: Find In-Home Natural Light
28:08 19Live Shoot: Engaging Children in Fun Activities
16:26 20Live Shoot: Introduce In-Home Activities to Shoot
18:36 21Live Shoot: Implement In-Home Shooting Flow
17:42 22Tips for Engaging Clients
04:06 23Photoshop: Edit Live Shoot Images
11:39 24Lightroom: Edit Live Shoot Images
07:41 25The Importance of Photo Composition
06:26 26Get Clients to Connect Naturally In Photos
04:57 27Example: Successful Family Shoot
13:59 28Example: Perspective in Shoots
03:54 29Incorporating Pets Into Family Photos
06:59 30Sales Techniques That Work
05:44 31Sellable Products and Packages
19:51Lesson Info
Activity Tips for In-Home Shoots
Activities, here's some activity ideas. Okay, we've got breakfast, lunchtime, bubbles, coloring, pillow fights. You know you can think of anything. Baking cookies with your Mom, coffee in bed. These are all in the family prep guide, I think the editable one. Airplane, tickle fights, you can make lemonade. You know we had a family where we made lemonade. The girls were nine and 12. What does a nine and 12 year old girl do? Talk on the phone probably, right? So, we made lemonade and it was the cutest thing cause they were like squirting lemon and it was so great. Think of activities that you can do with these kids that are older. Chalk outside, you know, take your kids outside. You know, bubble gum contests. Go back to that sibling rivalry again. Who can blow the biggest bubbles, right? So think about things they can do rivalries together. Okay, paint, dollhouse, we could go on and on and on, okay? Okay, so we want your clients to make a list, okay. This is actually a workshop I taught i...
n Chicago but have clients make a list. What do they love about their child that makes them unique and different? This family that we are about to see, she called me and said "He just lost his teeth!" and I'm like that makes him unique and different and I love that about him. I love that, that's going to date him and show that he's in first, you know how first grade, six year olds lose their teeth, I love that. If they have freckles and their parents are obsessed with their freckles right now, grab the freckles. What makes, for me personally, if a photographer would ask me, "What is special right now about your family?". It would be Benny with Zachary so he came to our family photo shoot a few weeks ago. We love to capture Benny. Tyler has crooked teeth and crazy hair, make sure that gets captured and they absolutely are the best friends on the planet so if a family told me that their siblings are best friends, I would make sure that we did so many images of them together, showing that connection, okay. So we need to make sure that all families are different. You know, you may have a family say they cannot stand each other, they don't know how they are going to do this, but good luck and that happens a lot. Okay, so that's when you do the war of who can do the biggest bubble, right? Cause they're competing against each other but they're in the same frame. So we kind of tricked them there by competing against each other. Okay, so you have to really get to know your families before you pick these activities. Everything is very purposeful. It might look a little crazy but there's a reason we did it, okay. Like what do they love about their spouse that makes them special? Okay, like and a lot of people will be like, "He's not excited to do pictures" but you know what, maybe he really, really snuggles his daughter. Maybe his daughter absolutely loves him and that's what makes him special with the kids, is his daughter is attached to him. Make sure you capture that, okay? These little things that we think aren't things that are atypical, you know, we need to use those things, okay. Don't just assume that those things are going to happen. Okay. What do your families like to do together? We got them jumping on the bed cause this is adorable. We did a pj shoot and we had them all jump on their bed, okay, with bubbles cause why not? Be flexible because nothing will go how you plan it. It won't, things will go, the kids will be crabby, they'll have to leave, it'll rain that day, something will happen so you need to be flexible, okay and let parents know it's going to happen and their gonna need to be flexible. Just say, "Don't worry. I have everything under control. When I come in, if something goes wrong, I have other things planned." And things will be great as long as you guys have a long list of activities, I'd say about three activities is enough, you can always move to something else. If you want to have more activities go for it, might be a long time but you know, you just have enough stuff planned, okay. With the little older siblings, have realistic expectations for them, okay. Be okay if they don't give you that epic shot. A lot of the older kids, like nine, 10 aren't, unless they're a girl, don't really want to be in front of the camera so have realistic expectations going in and set those expectations with Mom cause a lot of times we'll get families that are, say two years old with a six year old and a 10 year old and you know a far range in ages and they're so worried about their 2 year old and you just say, "Mom, she's not going to act like the seven, you know the six and the 10 year old. She's going to act like a two year old and we're going to capture her being a two year old and that's okay." Okay, it doesn't need to be the epic, everybody's looking at the camera you know shot cause that's not what lifestyle is, right. So the two year old, if the two year old is having a hard time, throw the two year old up on the shoulders. Do something to engage that child to keep them active but around the family, okay? So realistic expectations I think can make you shoot more efficiently. You feel better shooting cause the families know that they're not going to get, you know, everything is not going to be a perfect situation, okay. Okay, why we need flexibility. Raining and dark out, kids aren't having it, Dad's not having it, kids are crazy and we need to move outside so don't be scared to move outside, okay. Move outside. Clearly there is a reason you moved outside for this family. This was a backyard. So this was a shot I taught in Salt Lake, move outside so everybody is scared to shoot in full sun so this example withe they're doing airplane, right. They're older kids. I wanted to compose something cool with the mountains. The problem was the harsh sun was happening so how do you counter harsh sun when it's coming down on top of your head? You go vertical so there's no shadow coming this way, no shadows coming that way so we were able to get a lot of even light that way in this big open, you know, sunlight area. So if you can get really good about positioning your subject for the sun outside, that's important. Just move your subjects accordingly, okay. Okay, so the goals of your sessions. Well, make sure you know what memories your client does not want to forget, okay, and make that the forefront of your shoot. If there are certain things that they absolutely have to have, get those done right away if you can so that way the rest of the session you can kind of play. Some people really want pictures of their two year old's chubby feet, of their stuffed animal, somebody has long eyelashes, a favorite pet, showing a kid how to put their shoes on, those sorts of things that they want documented. Make sure you mentally note that. Okay and if you have to write it down, write it down. Check your clients questionnaire again. Where do they want photos? You're going to shoot differently if they want a big, huge, album with every single detail of their child. Somebody else might say, "I'm going to get the digitals probably but I also want a handful of pictures for the wall." Well then you're going to want to make sure you get those portraity shots, those close up shots, right, that aren't so pulled back cause those are the ones they're probably going to end up printing. So make sure you know what your clients end goals are with this session, okay. Just make sure you are shooting for them essentially.
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Bonus Materials
Ratings and Reviews
yeahyeahsyd
Emily reignited my passion for lifestyle photography and gave me the tools that I needed to give my business a creative and profitable boost. Seeing how effortlessly she interacted with families and the efficiency of her workflow was inspiring. I'm excited to shake things up and make some positive changes in my business that I know will lead to success. Thank you Emily and thank you Creativelive for this fun and informative class!
Bernadette
Watching Emily on CL - I rarely comment, but wanted to pop in and say what a great class it is! Full of helpful information and good content. One of the first classes that moves at a perfect pace, keeping things interesting & engaging. I tend to lose interest quickly when classes drag, but she really does such a fantastic job, which is refreshing. Makes watching the class really enjoyable! Thank you!
robinspalding
I was just hoping on here to post how much I loved this class. I used to be a portrait photographer, veered away for a bit to focus on more conceptual art photography but i still am interested in lifestyle photography. Emily is very inspiring, her bubbly personality was a joy to watch how she interacts with families especially the kids. Her work is phenomenal! (in response to one of the bad reviews, about her cutting off children shooting on a live workshop while tethered and teaching can easily explain this away as you can tell from her portfolio that she always has compositionly beautiful images) This class has renewed and inspired my love of lifestyle and i have been shooting so much since the class! Definitely used her tips and tricks to improve my pictures! highly recommend this class!