Planning your Oakville family photos while being outside of the country can be hard. However, it’s absolutely not impossible! Sharihan’s family photo session proves this point perfectly.
While searching online for professional photographers in the Brampton area, Sharihan discovered my work. She knew the struggles that a young family can experience during a family photo session. Trying to create some photo memories with everyone cooperating can be challenging. With this in mind, she found my online material inspiring. Sharihan was looking for a family photo session with her husband and three kids. The oldest was five, another was three years old and the newest addition was a baby boy that was only three months old.
Planning our Oakville family photos
Without a doubt, being abroad posed a challenge for the family. Sharihan did not have first-hand knowledge of photo opportunities in the area. Instead, we used my blog an an inspirational and educational platform to plan the photo session. While checking out themes for her session, she was also able to scroll through and decide on an actual photo location too. Sharihan decided to have their Oakville family photos taken at Gairloch Gardens. Being at the beginning of summer, this was an absolutely excellent choice! We booked the date and time and were all set.
However, international traveling presents another hurdle sometimes. Sharihan’s baggage did not arrive with them when they landed in Canada! Working together, we postponed the session to a couple of days later. The family needed to time to organize their outfits and to try to work around the missing luggages.
The day of the Oakville family photo session
Once the family was settled and outfits coordinated, the day of the photo session arrived. The weather was absolutely beautiful! The temperature was perfect and we were ready to create some magical memories.
As always during family photo sessions, I begin by trying to assess the different personalities. The two types I look for first if the most relaxed person as well as the most challenging one too. As it turns out, almost all of the group was calm and relaxed. Only the three year old boy had a bit of the grumps and was trying to separate from the group. I have boys of my own and knew I had to act fast! I tried to engage him by giving him some responsibility to assist me while at the same time working on his portraits.
Now that he felt important and in control of his family, we were able to get busy capturing the family memories. It helped so much! We were able to work the park and visit each spot that Sharihan and I planned ahead of time for their Oakville family photos.
Delivery of the family photos
I understood I needed to be quick delivering the finished photos because Sharihan’s family was in Canada for only a month. I had the proofs ready for viewing within 2-3 days. Then, once they selected and approved, their final images were complete in less than 10 days from the session. Sharihan and her family continued to visit family in other parts of Canada. I was able to ship their prints to a Quebec address where they were staying. This way they could leave some tangible memories to their family and could take some home with them as well.
What was the key element at these Oakville family photos?
What I believe made this Oakville family photo session so successful was the communication between Sharihan and myself. I continually made sure to keep her in the loop for the options available while the next step was ready for her. Communicating on time and efficiently created a unique experience for this beautiful young family of five.
There are a lot of things to consider when you plan a family photo session in another city, province, or as in this case, country. Making sure to provide a seamless process to your clients adds a sense of security which in turn creates a very good experience for all.
My passion and biggest asset is taking the time to make every client comfortable and relaxed before I even pick up the camera. The result? Photos of you that actually look like you at your best! I can prove to you how much you can enjoy having your picture taken. Lifestyle photography is about the experience that happens to be served up along side of some great photos.
Specialties:
Family Photography for families that like to move around and enjoy their photo time, Wedding Photography for couples looking for a mixture of photojournalistic, contemporary and traditional images and Professional Corporate headshots that are far from cheesy and stiff.