Preparing for Photo Day
Below are some of my tips for photo day in regards to clothing choices and preparing your child for the photo day process. Feel welcome to have a read through and contact us if you have any questions.
We look forward to capturing some beautiful memorable photos of your little ones that you will look back on in years to come. They grow so fast !
Choosing an Outfit for Photo day
Involve your child in the process.
Children love to be part of decision making for clothing. Our best suggestion is to choose a couple of different outfits that they love to wear and allow them to choose from those. Quite often we have children saying "This is my favourite shirt" or " I chose this dress as it's my party dress or favourite dress" or "this dress is my favourite colour". That way photo day is exciting for them as it feels like they have made a special choice.
Clothing Suggestions for Kindy Photos
In general, photos are about expressions, not the clothes they are wearing.
We suggest - Bright colours as they POP for outdoor play photos!
If bright colours are not your thing, pastels, rich textures, pretty patterns, stripes are also fun.
Mix coloured items with denim. Denim skirts/ dresses/pants/jackets and shorts !(see example of little boy in the tree with denim jacket/ red top under and a green watch - Perfect ! )
Please avoid short dresses for modesty reasons when climbing, sitting, sliding etc. Leggings under dresses are SUPER cute during cooler months. Match it up with fun accessories- go as crazy as you like and suited to your child's personality.
Head and Shoulder Portrait photos
Some element of detail around the neckline area works really well - eg collared shirts, necklaces or outfits with designs.
My biggest advice is to make sure your child's clothing fits well. Try it on a few days before kindy photo day so that it's not too tight - these kiddo's grow FAST ! They will be uncomfortable is their clothing is too tight or too big and they probably wont want to wear it.
Avoid character T-shirts if you can. They tend to "date" photos - but on the flip side you may wish this to be a memory of what your child loves at this age.
Should my child wear their allocated Kindy T-Shirt ?
You can choose to wear the particular "kindy t-shirt" for your centre - but just keep in mind that all your variety of photos will have your child with this shirt on. Some parents love to give photos as gifts to grandparents etc - so selecting an outfit for this purpose may be more beneficial than wearing a kindy shirt.
What about Shoes and Hats ?
Hats and Sun Safety:
We absolutely follow all rules of sun safety at kindy/ childcares. Children come outside to us with their hats on and we just pop them off whilst taking a few photos - generally no longer than a few minutes and most of our photos are taken in the shade. I will even use their hat in a few photos - so a photo of your child in a cute hat is always a lovely addition to your gallery.
Shoes
Generally we let children choose to have shoes on or off.
For Kindy's/Preschools, we photograph children soon after they arrive for the day - so usually they still have shoes on. Please make a note on registration if you definately want shoes on for photos - and we can make sure to pop them on prior.
Boots are fabulous for photos during winter.
Winter Photo day tips
During winter months - we still photograph outdoors. As we start early (around 8.30am) it is best if you choose an outfit that includes a cute jacket or jumper that we can leave on for photos.
We will not know if you prefer the jumper /jacket on or off unless you specify on your registration form. Please note : if a child is cold outdoors - we will keep the jumper/jacket on so they are not uncomfortable.
Clothing ideas for winter are: cute button/zip jackets or jumpers with collared shirts underneath are cute.Leggings under dresses and skirts. Cute sleeveless jackets, knit jumpers.
Keep an eye on the Red Cherry Instagram/ Pinterest page for ideas !
Preparing your Child to have photos taken
Mention photo day to your child a few days prior. Feel welcome to show them the Red Cherry Website examples so they can see what sort of photos we will be taking and how much fun it will be.
Let your child know that we will take a few photos of them sitting or standing and then they can show us how they climb, swing, slide, jump, throw balls, balance, paint, draw, crawl through tunnels and so much more.
Our aim is to have them laughing, giggling and having fun without cheesy smiles if we can.
If your child is a little nervous about photo day - perhaps ask them to tell us about their favourite friends, or pets, activities they love to do. They can even bring along a special toy/ snuggle bunny etc for the photos.
Extra little things
Glasses:
Please let us know if your child wears glasses and you have a preference for them to be on/off during photo session. We will always leave their glasses on and will not remove them unless instructed otherwise. We do our absolute best to choose shady areas that minimise glare and reflections on glasses when taking photos outdoors.
Extra information:
If there is anything that you would like us to know in regards to capturing lovely photos of your child - please let us know ahead of time on the registration form. We will have a note of it on the day on our photography list.
Photo clothes in your child's bag:
If you decide to have your child changed into photo clothes - please leave a note on the registration form PLUS let your child's educator know. That way it wont be missed during the busy morning.
What if my child's clothing gets dirty prior to photos ?
Feel welcome to pack something extra just in case. Honestly though, photos are about your child's expressions and joy at being at kindy. We do try to wipe it clean if we can and do the best we can to disguise any little messy bits .