Tips for emotionally preparing your husband for your family session

For some of us, preparing our husbands for the family photo session is as exhausting as preparing the kids. If your husband is happy-go-lucky about photo day, that’s excellent. If you’re dealing with someone who’s reluctant, however, then here are some things you can do to help:

Some dads are worried that a crazy photographer is going to push them into some weird, uncomfortable pose and force them to smile. My aim is to capture real emotions and not forced ones so being weird with Dad is not going to help. Respecting him as the head of his home goes a long way to getting him to relax and enjoy himself.

Especially if this is your first session together with the family now that the kids are mobile, let him know how the session will go and discuss your expectations. Also, if you have to bribe the kids, communicate this with him so he can help remind them of the bribery.

Warn him that the kids will probably be crazy or freak out and that he should prepare himself for that. It's ok if they don't do what you want. I know how to handle like ones when they don't do what we want. Let your hubby know he can relax and I'll take care of it.

Let him know that the more helpful he is in getting himself and the kids ready, the less stressed you will be and the less chance of an argument between you arising.

Remind him that the session is only an hour or so and then it will all be over. This way, he sees a light at the end of the tunnel and can stick it out.

If your husband is being difficult, bribe him to cooperate during the session as well. If it works for the kiddos, it may very well work for him!

And most importantly - remind him that you love him (and that he loves you, and that’s why he’s cooperating with this). Tell him how much you appreciate his support and cooperation in this, and how pleased you are all going to be with the finished photos.

I hope you have a great day!

5 Tips to Get Children to Smile Naturally

Children do not know how to smile naturally so when you tell them to smile or say, 'Cheese' for a photograph you will definitely not get what you are looking for. You will most probably get the smile in the photo on the left when you actually want something more like the smile on the right.

In my previous post, 3 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Children, my first tip was to not tell them to smile or say, 'Cheese'. So what can you do to get them to smile naturally? Read on for what I have found works for me.

1. Get down to their level

This may not necessarily get them to smile but remember that you are much taller than they are, in some cases double their height. So get down on the floor to their level. This will immediately give you a whole new perspective.

In this photograph I was lying on the floor flat on my stomach.

If I had been standing up I would have had a photograph of the top of his head and would have completely missed this great expression. The same for the photographs below.

2. Catch them Unawares

As a parent you have a real advantage over us professional photographers. When you bring your family to me to photograph I have to work at getting them relaxed and comfortable with me. I'm not going to get a natural smile if they think I am not ok. 

But as parents your children are already relaxed with you so catch them unawares. While they are playing happily, grab your camera, make sure your settings are correct and get down on the floor near them and then get their attention. You will get a photograph to treasure.

3. Be Silly

Now this one doesn't come naturally to all but it is worth it. Pull faces, jump up and down, make weird sounds, threaten them with the tickle monster, tell them you are coming to find their laugh button, make jokes…

So Granny does not look exactly like a model but after all that fun and silliness I got this photograph...

Baby is adorable and Granny is radiant.

4. Forget the Rules

Are children happy when we are angry with them? Generally not; so avoid getting angry when they do not do what you want. I know how frustrating it can be. My eldest daughter is very difficult to photograph and sometimes I want to throw my hands up in despair and I'm the professional! So…when it is not going to plan, walk away and try again later. 

You want them to look at you with laughter in their eyes so make them laugh! Fun is the name of the game!

5. Say, "I love you."

Something that I have found works like a charm when things are not working out is to get my daughter's attention by calling her quite sharply (as though I'm about to get angry) and then breaking into a big grin and saying with great feeling, "I love you!!" Without fail she breaks into a big smile and her eyes sparkle.

I was off camera to the left and my husband took the photo with my phone. I love it. We have this idea that for the photo to be a good one the subject needs to always look into the camera but with children that does not always happen. I love this one because, even though she did not look at the camera, she was looking at me with that cute little look on her face. 

6. Tell them to NOT smile

I know I said 5 tips but I had to include this one.

Warning: This one only works if you have a fun loving, happy go lucky child who understands a little bit of teasing. If you have a more serious child it will backfire.

If you are getting those weird, forced smiles you can tell them with a big smile on your face and a laugh in your voice to not smile. Normally they will try very hard to not smile and then burst into laughter and give you a really beautiful smile or laugh.

I hope these tips will help you out with your family photographs and they will be loads of fun and you'll get great pictures even if only with your phone!

Have a great week!

Today is gone tomorrow. Remember now. Forever.

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website

5 Simple Steps to Losing Weight!

I did an article a while back about How to Not Look Fat {for photos}. That was about how to pose and hide the not so good bits with clever photography. But actually you can get rid of some of those wobbly bits just by following 5 simple steps in your daily diet.

Before we get to those steps let me tell you a little of my story.

After my eldest daughter was born I was diagnosed with acute post natal depression. I was put on anti-depressants for 10 months. During that time I gained a few kilograms but expected it was from the medication. Within 6 weeks of weaning from the tablets I had gained 8 kilograms. I was horrified! Mortified!

I went back to see the doctor and after a bevy of tests a whole host of things were found to be somewhat out of whack! Under-activie thyroid, h. pylori in my stomach, sleep patterns back to front and on the list went. And on and on the weight piled until I had gained 16 kilograms!

July 2011

Eek! Eish! Horrors! My clothes don't fit anymore! I have nothing to wear! I'm ugly! Heeeeelp meeeee!

I found help and boy am I glad that I stuck with it because I have lost 17 kilograms, my clothes fit, I am fit, I don't feel ugly and I can say with confidence, "I am Beautiful!"

January 2014

I didn't go on diet (I hate diets) but I did change my diet. 

Step 1: Eat one fruit meal a day
Whaaat? It is actually really quite easy. 

For breakfast I eat as much fresh fruit as I want to along with a quarter cup of raw, unsalted nuts and seeds. Fresh fruit is the easiest food to digest, it is very stabilising on blood sugar and it curbs cravings for sweet things like chocolates! If you crave something sweet in the afternoon you did not eat enough fruit in the morning! The nuts and seeds provide me with the most readily available form of protein that I need for the day.

Step 2: Snack only on fresh or dried fruit or veggies

This is the one thing that I was very bad at and once I changed this small thing the weight started falling off.

So stock up on some apples and carrots and snack away.

Step 3: Do not eat animal protein more than once a day

Say what?

Animal protein is actually not all that good for you. It puts unnecessary strain on your liver and kidneys and the protein is not as readily available as it is in nuts.

So just avoid having eggs for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch and spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. Not too difficult.

Step 4: Start all cooked meals with raw fruit or veggies

Why?

Raw foods are much easier to digest and when you eat something raw first it starts the digestion process which makes it easier to digest the cooked food and improves absorption of all the nutrients in the food.

This one is really easy…have a salad with your cooked main meal and eat it first.

Step 5: Do not eat a concentrated starch with a concentrated protein

Huh? No way!!

This one is a bit tougher but my family and I have been doing it for several years and it is just a part of our lives now.

Have you noticed especially after, say a braai, your dear husband lets off so much gas he could send himself into orbit? And then he parks himself on the sofa and passes out while snoring loudly? Read on for the quick explanation.

To digest protein the pH in your stomach needs to be 3 or less. To digest starch the pH needs to be greater than 4. So the hydrochloric acid in your stomach gets to work on the protein while the starch sits and ferments which in turn causes the protein to putrefy. 

Yuk!  Ew! Gross! Nasty! Don't think too much about it because you might turn green!

Anyway, this great big fermenting mess creates alcohol, acetic acid and ammonia…gas, bloating and heartburn.

So when you have a braai, for example, skip the potatoes and braaibroodtjies and just have meat and a large salad. You will feel so much better.

All in all it is not too difficult but it can seem quite daunting if you try to change the above all in one go.  I found something to ease the way: 100 Days to Health. This is an amazing programme (not a diet) where you get an email once a week with a small thing that you need to change in your eating habits. Then for the rest of the week you get a daily email to encourage you on your way. Once you have completed the 100 days you will not even recognise your diet and you will have lost weight along the way without even trying.

I hope this helps you out and you can lose those kilos that you have hated for so long.

Here's to a healthy future!

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website

3 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Children

1. DO NOT tell them to smile. 
    This is what you will get.

Rather chat to them and try to make them laugh naturally. Then you will get this:

2. Get in close
You do not need to have every shot from head to toe. Get in close and capture those big, sparkly eyes.

3. Let them be themselves
The photos that you will cherish the most are when you capture the moments when they look just like their cute, adorable selves. So don't over direct them. All I did in this image was asked my daughter to stand with her teddy on her hip and sing for me. She loves singing. And this is probably my all time favourite photo of her.

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website