Quarantine Photoshoot

Click! Smile…Look there…perfect…Say Cheese!

Step 1 Done: The white sheet covers the wall and the floor creating a nice, warm background for the photoshoot.

Step 2 Done: The kids are ready with their matching outfits, looking smart, dashing and cute.

Step 3 Done: Now, I have the kids pose and just have fun. Click away.

You must be thinking photoshoots during Covid-19..isn’t it risky?

Well, fear not.

I thought why not take this opportunity to do a photoshoot at home. Usually, we wait for certain events or holidays to take photoshoots; however, it got me thinking that if the purpose of photoshoots is to capture memories of your loved ones, then why to wait for an occasion. Also, honestly speaking, I find it hard to take time out for the shoot or to gather everyone for one shoot.

Therefore, I thought what a perfect way to utilize this quarantine period. I decided to capture my kids through their quarantine routine. It is free of cost, you use your equipment lying around the house and you just need a phone! (If you have a professional camera, Bring it on!)

(Secret – This is my first time doing a shoot, but I am going to act like a pro in front of my kids)

THEME:

Now that you have decided to do a shoot, the very first thing is to make a list of kids activities which you want to capture or the THEME. You want to make sure that you have a certain theme or idea in your head of what you want the kids to be doing. So, in my list, I narrowed it down from 10 activities to 4 which are playing basketball, having a water balloon fight, praying and having a classic white backdrop portrait. You can always ask your kids, if they are older, as to what would they like to have photos off.

PREPARATION:

The key is to make sure you have things ready before hand to enjoy the whole process of a photoshoot. The last thing you want is to be running around trying to find things and trying to take picture at same time.

Equipment – I am going to make sure the day before, I get a white sheet and tape ready. I also went out and bought water balloons from Costco. You can fill up like 40 balloons at once. They are called Bunch-o-balloons (quite cool). As for basketball and praying, these are activities which we do everyday so I did not have to get much ready for it. (Better to choose activities that you already do at home because you want to avoid going out of home to get stuff during quarantine).

Clothes – Who does not want their kids to look adorable? Specially during quarantine times, why not go all out and have them dress up…it is so much fun! You can have them pick out their clothes or you can pick out their outfits.

I am thinking different outfits for different activities. One will be very dressy and formal from head to toe. Another will be more of a track outfit with sport shoes since I will shoot them playing basketball. And of course, swimsuit is a must for water balloons.

LOCATION:

This is the key in deciding how your photos will come out. Do you want to take it in the basement, in the hall or in the bedroom or on the bed? Also, check out which spots are prone to natural light or which angle has more light or shadow to take a good photo at. There may be certain spots which are too dark or too bright so they might not go well with the shoot. Play with your phone camera and the spot and see where do pictures actually come better at.

My locations were mainly my backyard and my living room. I chose to shoot their basketball pics during sunset at around 5.30-6pm. This gives me enough natural light for my camera. For the white background, I chose my hall because it has enough lights to give it that brightness and in evening time, there is just the right amount of sunlight coming in through the windows.

One thing is to make sure that kids are fed right before doing the shoot so they do not get ‘hangry.’

All these photos have been shot via my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ phone on the Live Focus Mode. The only editing I have done is blur the background in some photos to create more of an effect, like the basketball portraits.

So now the day has come where you take out all your goodies, set them up and get ready to have fun!

Check out my Instagram @savvys5 where I have put up my best pictures.

There are lot of Pininterest pics, YouTube videos, and lot of sites where you can get ideas of how to do a photoshoot and what kind of image or picture you want to take especially for moms like me who may not have such a creative mind.

Few sites I referred to are:

1. 5 Tips for Indoor Photos of Your Kids {Guest Post}
2. 5 Ways to rock your toddler photo session
3. 4 Creative Indoor Light Photography Ideas You Need To Try
4. https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/04/the-great-indoors-one-family-s-creative-solution-to-cope-with-coronavirus-lockdown

We had a lot of fun during the shoots and now, every other day, they ask me, ‘Are we doing a photoshoot?’ Guess, they really liked taking pictures!

Hope you have as much fun as your kids do during this shoot! Do share your photos because this are memories your making of the Covid-19.