Making the Most of Milestones
Before I get into today’s discussion I want to thank all of you for your get-well wishes last week. I’m not completely back to normal but can see it from here. I had bronchitis and am still coughing, but no longer running a temp, waking up with a vicious headache or feeling like I’d been run over by a train. I’ve eaten a party-pack of Popsicles over the last two weeks and think I’ll need to keep them in the house all the time now. I forgot how much I like them!
Here in the northern hemisphere, kids are going back to school and summer is winding down. Is it just me or has the first-day-of-school photo shoot gotten as complicated as wedding photos? When my kids were still in school, first day photos were taken standing by the front door for a height reference, with various grimacing and bellyaching. These days it seems, there must be props, special backdrops, dozens of poses and expense. But what can the average mom do to commemorate their precious kiddos’ first days without the headaches? Turns out getting memorable shots doesn’t have to be a huge hassle. Let’s talk about how!
Think about it ahead of time! Planning is never wasted and in this case it can be squeezed in wherever you have a free moment. Think about what you want, how much time you want to put into it, how much advance prep you want to involve and don’t forget to think about your child’s personality. If you have a few minutes, take a look on Pinterest for ideas so you can start palling for them.
Don’t be a slave to the calendar! Nobody’s going to change dramatically in a few days so those first-day photos can actually be taken the weekend before, when nobody’s rushing to get out the door. The weather doesn’t have to be a factor if you don’t take those photos on the exact first day. It’ll also give you a chance to be sure the chosen first-day outfit still fits, is clean and doesn’t have buttons missing.
You don’t need to buy a bunch of props! A simple chalkboard or whiteboard can be highly useful. You can write whatever you want on it and change it between kids. Have your child write his name on the board, then write in the date and their new grade. Simple! Felt signboards can be just as useful, if you already have one. The child’s name, date, grade and school name will all fit on the small ones. An apple, a couple of books or handful of pencils will work as visual connectors to the occasion. Backpacks, lunch bags, new shoes, all those things can serve as props. One image I think would be awesome is of their new shoes, on their feet, with their new backpack leaning against their leg.
Simple backdrops are free! Think a brick wall, the sidewalk in front of your house, their school, a school bus 0r even the siding on your house. Brick walls are classic school images and are nicely neutral. Stand slightly to the child’s side so you’re not perpendicular to the wall, have the child lean his shoulders against the wall then turn a little toward you and start shooting! Have your child stand on the sidewalk with her backpack in hand. Use the portrait setting on your camera, crouch down so you’re on the same level as her eyes and snap! The background will be slightly blurry but still be recognizable. It’ll give the sense of the journey about to begin. Another really effective pose has the child/children walking down the sidewalk AWAY from you, maybe glancing back over one shoulder. OR – use sidewalk chalk to write out the important stuff then have the child lay down on the sidewalk looking up at you. Or shoot down looking at their feet with their new grade in chalk on the pavement. Shooting with the portrait setting from the sidewalk in front of the school can give nice depth of field to provide that sense of growing up and away. If there’s a big sign in front of the school, you could pose your little person sitting cross-legged on the concrete anchoring it to the ground. Another option is to have them posing as if they’re entering the school. And even if your child isn’t going to ride the school bus, they’re dandy backdrops. If your house has clapboard, aluminum or vinyl siding, those horizontal lines can provide a handy journaling spot right on the photo. Simply pose the child to one side of your frame so you have some lovely white space there.
Teenagers can still have first day photos! I know mine gave me serious eye rolls every year after they finished middle school. But I still made them stand there for 10 seconds while I snapped off a quick photo. One way to make it less onerous for them is to print out some little signs on plain paper for them to hold up, using hashtags (let them choose for even more cooperation) like #senior, #backtoschool, #lamephotoday or #almostdone. Tater Tots and Jello has a nice collection of printables all ready for you. Oh, and let them decide how they pose.
Telling stories is what it’s about! Especially for the really little ones, that first day of school is going to be exhausting. They’ve gotten up earlier than they have in weeks, they’ve had a lot of overwhelming new experiences and met a ridiculous number of new people. So you might want to get a photo of them as they arrive home, looking tired and out-of-sorts. One idea I particularly like is the t-shirt one: buy an oversized t-shirt in your little one’s favourite colour (at the moment, ’cause we all know that’s going to change!) then have “Class of [graduation year]” printed on the front. Each year, take a photo of them wearing it. It’ll perfectly chronicle their growth and development and eliminate the conundrum of “what to wear”. Another way to capture that changeling changing is to take a first day photo AND a last day photo for each year. Oh, before I forget, I saw a brilliant idea yesterday. Print out LAST year’s first day photo as an 8×10, frame it in a dollar store frame and have your child hold it in front of them. Perfect record of them as they grow!
These tips can be applied to other occasions as well with just a little thought and very little money. Look online for free printables. They’re everywhere and for every possible event. I’m looking forward to seeing all the back-to-school layouts that I know will be filling up the Gallery any day now!
