Planning Your Child’s Professional Portrait Session
Professional portraits of their kids are heirlooms that every parent can treasure, whether you enjoy them as framed portraits on your wall, premium photo albums on your shelves, or whatever you choose. But let’s talk prep first. What should you bring to your child’s photo session to make it as beautiful (and low-stress) as it can be? As your award-winning Dallas photographer, I have everything you need to know.
A Special Note: Everything is Photographer-Specific
Before I get into the specifics of what to bring to a child photography session, it’s important to recognize that your to-bring list will be different from one photographer to the next. Each photographer has certain items they supply and certain items they ask parents to bring. For example, I supply all the outfits and accessories needed for your child’s photo session, so you don’t need to bring them, but most photographers require clients to bring their own outfits. The list below is based on my own process.
Items to Bring to a Children’s Photo Session
Let’s get into it – what should you bring to your child’s photography session? Here are a few items I encourage every parent to have with them.
Refreshments
Kids are just like us – when they’re hungry or thirsty, they can get cranky and may not be in the best mood to show us their beautiful smiles in portraits. Fortunately, this problem is easy to avoid. Bring a few drinks and snacks your child enjoys, especially items that won’t leave stains or messes like crackers, water, or other clear liquids, gummy snacks, veggies, and so on.
Child-Friendly Wipes
You probably have these permanently in your vehicle anyway because they’re a parent’s best friend, but regardless, I suggest bringing wipes to any photo session. They’re excellent for quickly wiping off messy hands and post-snack faces so your child can be camera-ready in seconds.
Items to Make Your Child Smile
Sometimes kids need a little something extra to get them in a great mood for taking photos. That’s when it can help to have some of their favorite toys on hand.
The trick is to choose toys that will bring a smile to your child’s face without your child needing to hold them – toys that make music we can play behind the camera, or even cue up your child’s favorite song on your phone. If it’s a toy your child likes to hold, the challenge is that once we’ve handed it to them, we probably won’t get it back from them without them getting upset, so the toy would be in your photos.
Bug Spray
For outdoor photo shoots, bug spray can be a fantastic little helper. You don’t want your child to be distracted or uncomfortable because there are bugs all around them (who could blame them?), so bug spray or other types of bug repellents are great to have on hand.
Booking Dallas’s Best Professional Photography for Kids
A photo session for your child doesn’t have to be a stressful, exhausting occasion. My full-service photography at Allison Dittman Photography is designed to make your life easier while creating stunning, charming heirloom portraits. Book your session and let’s start planning!
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