7 reasons why you haven’t booked your shoot
Whenever I speak to my clients, they always say how glad they are they took the plunge to do a family photoshoot and list a number of reasons why they nearly didn’t.
Here are my answers to some of the most common worries.
“I have an iPhone that does the job for me.”
They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and that is totally true. Your iPhone will capture important photographic moments of your life and I am never without mine, just in case!
However, how many times have you tried to blow up that iPhone picture to put above your fireplace only to find the quality doesn’t quite work or the proportions are ever so slightly off. When you hire a professional family photographer you are paying for years of training and experience in taking the very best photographs: how to find the best light and where to stand in a certain moment to get the best angle for what’s about to happen. You are paying for an artist to create memories for your family to keep forever.
2. “I have thousands of photographs on my hard drive, I do not need anymore.”
It is said we are the lost generation. We take more photographs than ever before, store them on hard drives, and forget all about them from one year to the next. As part of my service, not only do I take your pictures, but I also provide, through my gorgeous Collections, products that you will want to display and keep for years to come. I am so passionate about photographs being printed and admired. We move so quickly now through an era of constant noise that our brains are overloaded with information. Keep those memories alive.
3.“I find posed shots awkward.”
Me too. I have two small children who do not keep still ever, and wrestling them into a posed photograph situation is a recipe for disaster. What if I told you it doesn’t have to be this way, that my style of photography is relaxed and natural, capturing details of your life without interfering. With a professional photographer, it is entirely possible to capture all the amazing details and moments of your story without having to ask you to do a thing. It’s what I practise and train for all day every day. My style of photography falls under the documentary photography bracket – I like to think of it as a mini “day in your life”.
4. “My children do not keep still and it will be a waste of money.”
This speaks to me. I am the mother to two highly energetic children. I swear I haven’t sat down in 6 years. They are not those “smile, say cheese” children. That is why I am a family photographer who specialises in this field. Your children do not have to stay still, they do not have to listen to me, they do not even have to look at me, and I promise I will get the type of beautiful photographs that when you look at them, you think, that is them. That is their personality to the letter. This type of energy can be so exhilarating on a shoot, it creates the emotion and connection that makes a photograph sing.
5. “I’m worried my children will misbehave and we won’t get any pictures.”
Ahhh, trying to make children behave. I’ve been there. You just need them to keep it together for 30 minutes only for all hell to break loose. Life isn’t a curated Instagram feed; perfect families do not exist. I am here to capture your life, and there is no wrong type of behaviour or personality type. Believe me when I say some of my all-time favourite family photographs have come at the end of a tantrum. My shoots are fun, relaxed, the pictures represent a day in your life, where your children feel their most alive and comfortable. They cannot screw anything up!
6. “I like the idea of a family shoot, but I don’t have an occasion.”
This is a big one. As a society, we are programmed to keep things “for best” – that dress, that handbag, a photo shoot. Whereas 99% of our life is living the ordinary, the day-to-day routine that makes you you, and where the vast majority of our memories are made. Your children will remember that amazing once in a lifetime holiday, but will they remember that every morning for a year you had to make breakfast for them and their Peppa Pig toy? It’s those small details that makes you unique, and it’s those small details we should celebrate. Don’t wait for the occasion, wear the dress, use the handbag, book the shoot.
7.“You don’t live in my area.”
I am based in Berkshire, however I travel all over the place for a shoot. My motto is, ‘Your life is where you live’ and that’s the story I want to tell. With two small children I relish a car journey alone with the tunes blaring! I have clients all over the South from London to Hampshire and Wiltshire to Devon. I would love to add in your county!
Never let a fear or a worry get in the way of doing something you really want to do. I am on the end of the phone to chat about anything else that doesn’t feature on this list. Book a call here.
