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Family Photo Projects

Taking pictures of kids at a birthday party can be both a fun and challenging experience. Recently, my wife and I threw a surprise birthday party for our son Nicholas and what seemed like a hundred of his little friends. I wanted to take pictures, but not in the tradtional party picture way. I did not want to experience my son’s real life excitement with a camera in front of my face, squinting, through a tiny hole. Instead of trying to scramble and chase kids down in attempts to get a good picture, I opted for different way. I set up a place in a more quiet and controlled room where I could get their undivided attention.

A white wall worked as the backgound, instead of crazy party central. A big window directly opposite was my only light source. The picture taking process was made into an event just as much as “pin the tail on the donkey“ or clubbing the pinata.

The challenge was to get the first one going and then the rest would hopefully see how fun it was and join in. My son, who is quite used to posing for me was first. When everyone saw how much fun it could be, and how utterly entertaining I was, they all wanted to pose. I shot basically two shots of each party goer. One close-up, and one of every friend with my son. They seemed to like posing in front of the wall which had more of a professional model photo shoot feeling than the normal snap shot thing they were used too. They posed, I got the shots and they were gone. Back to the wild merry making of the party. I had managed to get a shot of everyone in no time and was able to get back and attend to and enjoy the party myself.

Shooting digitally allowed me to have instant access to the pictures on my computer. By resizing the doubles picture, increasing the canvas size, and adding something to say with the type tool like, “Thanks, Jake, Love Nicholas“ (all with the help of Photoshop and an Epson 1280 printer) we had personalized thank you notes that were later sent to everyone who attended the party. An additional personalized close-up photo, printed to 8x10, was also included with the package.

All in all, the party and the pictures were a success. The kids had a nice memento of themselves with my son, and I became very popular with the parents. Who wouldn’t want a beautiful close-up of their child done in a professional way?

Avoid distracting backgrounds- If you shoot against a backdrop, they know they need to stay put in one spot. Hopefully.

Get it done fast. Snap, snap, snap, you got the picture before they know what happened.

Don’t miss the party! Taking pictures is great fun, but don’t miss what is happening in real life. Those memories will last a lifetime.

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	Great tip to capture pictures of the kids without being intrusive to the party Posted by: Nanahuff NY Mar 16, 2008 @ 6:28 PM EST
	Good idea. This gives mom and dad time to spend with the children and the party. Take the photos and make a scrapebook. What a great birthday memory. Posted by: Melinda Wilburn May 22, 2008 @ 10:35 PM EST
	Nice article, there seems to be an additional light source behind the subject(s) - giving a "halo" effect...I missed out if that's in the article. Yes, a very different view on party pics, only if one can get the kids away from their runabouts! :-) Thanks Posted by: Ravi Jun 9, 2008 @ 11:51 AM EST
	Thanks for the tips. I can use this technique in any family gathering. Posted by: Geralyn Gray Oct 21, 2009 @ 9:40 AM EST

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