In part one of my “Photographing Children With Special Needs” blog, I focused on some personal stories of when I have done sessions for families with special needs children. My goal is to show parents it is a wonderful idea to get professional portraiture of their children, with no apologies or feelings of embarrassment. As I have said, I love photographing children with special needs because each child is so unique and inspiring. I learn quite a bit from these children, and they truly enrich my life. Now I am going to take a quick look at the process of photographing children with special needs, aiming to help set your mind at ease about getting portraiture of your children.
Meeting The Child and Family
One thing that helps me as a photographer, the family, and the child is to meet each other before the session. It is a great chance for a child to meet me and not be surprised when I seemingly show up randomlywith a big camera pointed his or her way. It also is perfect because I am able to talk with families about what the child needs. Does the child need a certain toy or article of clothing? What environment would work best? It is best to take photographs of a child in areas where he or she feels comfortable. This helps to get some of the most gorgeous, natural shots and help the child not worry or get stressed by being in a new environment with a new person.
Being Gentle And Friendly
Having a friendly demeanour and being gentle with the child is also something that is important. I love to interact with children, as much as they will allow and always respect their wishes. Creating a gentle and friendly environment is great for all children, but especially when it comes to photographing children with special needs. They need to feel as relaxed as possible, which is possible with photographers who are gentle and understanding.
Flexibility Is Quite Important
One of the things I sometimes hear from parents is that they feel embarrassed or worried because their child cannot sit still or is not one to cooperate very well. When photographing children with special needs, it is important to be flexible and go with what the child is doing. This is one of the best ways to capture stunning images and is really part of photographing children overall. Allowing children to be themselves is important to me because I feel these photos are some of the most natural and beautiful shots anyone can get. In part one of this series, I had a client who had a young autistic child whom I followed around a park and snapped photographs as he ran to various spots. It was quite a lot of fun, and involved the necessity to be flexible. Because of being flexible with the situation, I was able to capture some of the most gorgeous shots of this child, and his parents were overjoyed to get such wonderful shots.
Photographing Children With Special Needs Is Wonderful!
As I have said in my previous post, photographing children with special needs is possible and is absolutely wonderful! If you have a child with special needs and desire to get gorgeous professionally done portraiture, please contact me today!
Talk soon, Margherita :)
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