Family photos are the best way to create a lasting memory to treasure for a lifetime. You can have an amazing time getting all the gang together to laugh, play and just share some quality time while being photographed. Plus think of all the fun you can have planning the photoshoot: choosing themes, outfits and props… All the little details that will make your session magical.
We’ve put together a small list of tips to ensure that you make the most out of your family photoshoot and so you know what to expect on the day.
1-Showcase personality: Make sure to bring out the characters and passions of each and every one of the family members to create your family’s unique story. Be silly together, interact and treat the photoshoot as you would any family evening at home.
2- DO Use the Environment and props: It is not unusual to feel a bit weird posing in front of a camera. Props help add character and interest to a photo and most of all help the subjects feel comfortable because it gives them something to do, making them forget about the camera.
3- Enjoy yourselves! If your family is enjoying the moment and having fun you’ll have a higher chance of getting beautiful and candid family photos in the end.
Giving the family games to play and things to do creates dynamic and natural images And It also injects fun into the session.
4- Be prepared for whatever the kids might throw at you. This includes planning out naps, bringing snacks and any toys they need to keep the little ones happy. Is important that the shoot adapts to the pace of the younger ones to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
5- Let kids be kids. Often parents tell their kids, “You need to be good and smile” before a photo session. For many kids, this puts too much pressure on them to perform.
If the kids don’t want to sit and smile, don’t force them. Let them run around and be kids for a while and let the photographer shoot that. Play with them; make it fun. A few minutes later, they are surely going to cooperate and sit for a bit.
At the end of the day is all about feeling comfortable and relieving the tension that comes with the high expectations one might put on the photoshoot. The overall idea of a family photo session is to capture your family just as they are, and that includes the overactive children, the goofy dad and even the rebel teenagers.
Just have fun and don’t forget to bring your smile!
We realize that during this time, events may not even happen at schools, but here are some creative ideas to include in your yearbook to still create an awesome experience for people to reminisce on:
Our Year In Review
Our Yearbook Software provider offers 8 pages of year-in-review content, displaying the hot topics and additional information important to 2019-2020. These pages are available in the designer under the Templates button, in the category called Year In Review and can easily be customized.
Our Lives during the Quarantine – We are the #QuaranTeens
You may definitely dedicate a few pages of your Yearbook to quotes, photos or brief descriptions of how COVID-19 has impacted the students’ day to day life, while focusing on the positive or lessons learned during these challenging times.
Ask them to send your pictures of their day to day, wearing masks, describing the steps they are taking to keep themselves safe. Snap screenshots of what the online learning experience looked like.
Note! Our Yearbook Partner has created COVID-19 Templates to get you started! They’re available under the Collage category from the Templates button in the Designer!
We are #QuarenTeening
Showcase your Spirit Week Activities
Crazy sock day? Crazy hair day? Sports Jersey Day? Get all those pictures in. Take screenshots of your virtual group meetings if possible. Ask the parents to send you pictures of the students during remote assignations and create collages for your pages dedicated to Spirit Week.
Virtual Group Photos
Are you missing virtual group photos for your Music or Sports groups? We can help you put together virtual compositions based on students’ photos we already have. We will just need the names of the students, and some detail regarding group theme. Logo? Color templates? Emojies? We have your back!
Prom Attire Selfies – Lets serve those looks!
Some of your students may have already bought prom outfit or would be happy to serve some looks. Have them take some selfies with a backdrop that really completes the look, and send that selfie to the yearbook. Host a virtual Prom Party and get some screenshots of the event.
You can then create collages of prom looks.
Shine on Your Student Pages
This subject may be geared more toward middle and elementary schools. Make your portrait pages an individual experience of each student. If you have too many students to make this feasible, consider having only the graduating class as single person portrait pages. Have them create a short blurb about themselves, including such things as favorite sport, favorite class, a memorable experience they’ve had at the school, or their aspirations for the future. They can fill in the page with images that match content they provide (I.E. Favorite TV Show? Have an image of that TV Show). And maybe other images that are personal to their life.
Get Silly with Superlatives Pages!
We’ve seen some great superlative pages! Create a Google Sheet or Polls of different superlatives. Maybe your focus is teacher superlatives. When you have the results, have those teachers provide funny photos acting out those superlatives. Spread out the superlatives to about 3-4 per page.
Polls, Polls, Polls!
Polls can be a great filler to yearbooks. You can use our Polls feature in the Manage LINK page of your yearbook account. Simply click +ADD NEW, and follow the directions to create your poll. The poll will be available from our LINK Website when users search for their school. If you have contact with students during the quarantine, you can send them the link to the poll and have them fill out their answers
Maybe your poll is about your favorite at home activity! Once you get enough answers, use the results to determine what kind of icons and imagery you’ll add into the page along with the poll results.
Silly Selfies
If your school collects a LOT of photos, there’s sure to be some silly faces in those photos. Collect a folder of silly faces and create a collage of them. You can also request silly selfies from students, if you’re able to.
Templates!
Take advantage of the variety of templates our Yearbook Software provider has to offer in the designer section. We have theme-specific whole book templates, such as Storybook, Arcade Zone, and Comic Book.
We also provide event-specific templates, such as Halloween templates, Valentine’s Day, and more.
There are plenty of simple templates if you’re looking to fill your book with collage pages, autograph pages, and other extras that suit your needs.
You can explore the different templates we have available from the Templates page under the Collaborate tab.
Last thoughts
You are documenting history and as challenging these unprecedented times have been, your yearbook will be a ray of hope and sunshine to your students. Let’s focus on documenting how resilient they are and how much we are looking forward to overcoming this pandemic as a community. Emerging stronger and united.
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