Children's Photography isn't about forced and fake smiles anymore. Child photographers are moving out of the studio to capture pictures of children playing in real life situations.
Over the past several years the children’s photography business has morphed into something quite different than what most adults remember from when they were children themselves. Those of us raised in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and even 90’s more likely than not remember sitting feet crossed, chin up, back straight at a photography studio in a local mall or strip mall. We smiled as the photographer asked us to say “cheese” and the lights flashed.
Children’s photography isn’t like that anymore. Yes, the same scene still plays out every day in malls and studios all across the country, but to a much lesser extent than it once did. Today parents are looking to capture their child’s personality. They want pictures of their children playing at a park, rolling in the grass, dipping their toes in a small stream. Sitting in front of a backdrop doesn’t accomplish this. As a result, children’s photography has taken to the street, or more accurately the park, so to speak. Child photographers often have an inventory of their favorite locations they can draw upon and suggest to a client depending on the desired setting.
Evidence of this shift can be seen in the recent bankruptcy of Kiddie Kandids. With studio locations in more than 200 malls across the country Kiddie Kandids was one of the nation’s largest photography chains. However, unable to provide an on location photography service, the company failed to keep up with the changing trend and filed for bankruptcy in January of 2010.
With the availability of digital cameras it has also become much easier for entrepreneurs to start their own children’s photography business. There is still the same required skill involved in taking a good picture, but no longer is a dark room necessary for photo processing. It’s also much easier to take tons of photos and then edit them in Photoshop or other photo editing software. With film, getting the perfect picture with as few shots as possible was important, and a studio setting provided for a controlled environment that made this easier. Today child photographers will often take hundreds of pictures in a single session and then edit the best ones. Because the number of pictures taken is greater, it is much easier to get a larger number of high quality portraits.
Children’s photography will no doubt continue to evolve. However, the new direction is not one of sitting up straight with a fake smile, it’s one of real smiles and sitting any way the child wants.
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