How to organise children's photoshoot?

Organizing a photoshoot for your children can be a splendid way of clicking some timeless pictures with proper equipment.  Mothers who do not usually operate a camera and do not feel confident clicking the pictures themselves can hire the services of a professional.

But if you are one of those enthusiastic mothers who would not be afraid to get behind the camera to make their little one’s feel like supermodels, then here are some tips that will help you through this photoshoot.

• First of all, familiarize yourself with the camera. It need not be a DSLR, it can be a simple point-and-shoot camera and the results will totally depend on your understanding of photography. It’s not very difficult to read up a little on basic photography rules... just Google it.
• Decide on the theme of the photoshoot. For example, it could be a costume shoot, where in you borrow costumes of various characters from your nearest store and try them out. Or it could be a simple photoshoot with props like pets, flowers, balloons et al. A photoshoot basically requires a little bit of preparation on your part in terms of selecting a background too.  
• Try to include some of your child’s friends in the photoshoot as well. This way, your kid will have some beautiful pictures of his childhood friends, and he/she will thank you profusely when they grow up. While you are at it, ask family members like the father (and yourself too) to be a part of the shoot.
• If you are shooting indoors, then select a part of the house where natural light is in abundance. You can even get artificial lights if your house is not that lucky in terms of natural light. Try not to use camera’s in-built flash.  Use external flash that lights up the object from an angle, or use bouncers.
• If you are shooting outdoors, then concentrate on good backgrounds. Let your children be in their most natural state. Ask them to pose for a while, but then don’t stop clicking pictures in between also, as that’s when you can get some amazing candid pictures. Experiment with poses and camera angles. And most importantly, have fun yourself! That will help relax your kids as well.