‘A breath of fresh air from the usual school photos’ – Beechdale Nursery
Child Portrait Photographer County Durham
Well, I (Emma), have just had the loveliest morning with Claire Batey from Unscripted Photography, seeing first hand how Claire manages one of these lovely little ‘fine art school portrait’ sessions. I mean they say ‘never work with Children or animals’ but it’s so not true. If you ever want that genuine smile on your face…always…always…..always work with kids!
The scene is set!!…the very unassuming Claire Batey has set up her shoot; a black backdrop, a camera which is checked one last time; and playing a supporting role is ’Squeezy’, a very bright yellow and red fluffy hand puppet who is carefully placed on a chair as backup. It was just that simple, no bright lights, no grand arena, just a small room with Claire and her prop.
And in comes the first child holding hands tentatively with their teacher. Understandably shy at first, but then Claire instantly starts to make her feel at ease as she drops her camera arm and she is down at the little one’s level chatting. Very quickly we learn that this little lady, loves princesses, loves her hair and can do the bestest princess spin ever!
Up next is the cutest little guy. Again shy, but then full of chat when talking about Christmas which is ‘all day’ you know!! Claire then encourages him to show us his face for ‘being good’, ‘being naughty’, ‘being cheeky’ and ‘being excited’. Oh my days – the expressions …. True character
At this point, I can’t stop smiling. It is so obvious that Claire has kids herself and that she has one of those rare talents of being able to engage with a child, down on their level and it’s genuine, it really is. Claire continues snapping away as the kids are changing, they’re opening up, becoming more animated, peering right into the camera looking for a rainbow or up towards the sky.
Next up…slightly tougher cookies to crack; one little fella was bouncing … he wanted to be on the floor most of the time but Claire just went with it…’kids will be kids’ but then Claire’s ‘in’. The in was ‘Spiderman’ and the next thing you know we’re checking out this little guy’s best web throwing action…..all captured by Claire of course.
And last but not least was a lovely little girl, bless her…. ‘only 4’ but ever so tall. Her mum had done her hair so beautifully in braids for ‘the photos’ but she was so nervous, her hands were clasped together to her front and rarely left that position. But Claire persevered asking questions about Princesses, Christmas and her new baby sister and despite the timid ‘don’t know’ replies, Claire got some photos that I hope her mum would love.
Anyways…. There were lots of ‘Ahh’ moments today. For one, I never knew that Claire knew so much about Princesses but I do need to watch Frozen! Then as we left today, a lovely teacher approached us just to tell Claire just how amazing the photos were from the first photoshoot. She just loved the photos and that the photos really captured how the kids really are and how the teachers see them. And this reminded me of feedback we’d received after the first photoshoot from a parent who called Claire ‘magic’ because Claire had managed to capture her child’s character, her funny little looks and that it was ‘just her’.
And that’s the thing. Photos are more than just the smiles. It doesn’t matter that collars are turned up or that your little one was a little shell shocked. We got a little glimpse of them, the real them. Whether it was their thinking face, their shy face or the way their eyes lit up when talking about something they love. Capturing that on film, now that’s Magic!
So that was that, we were done and just leaving the car park when the children came past, hand in hand, in pairs, heading to Forest school. And there in the line was the last little girl from our shoot, ahhh, the ever so nervous little one, waving animatedly at Claire with the most wonderful cheery smile.
I mean if this is not the best job in the world, just what is?
Child Portrait Photographer County Durham
As a mum myself, every year I (Emma) buy the obligatory school photo which goes straight in the draw and I certainly don’t want to put it up on the wall but you know what…..you don’t have to put up with those boring, forced school photos, there is something else….. something completely different.
You want that memory of your child in their school uniform but you want it to be them, how you see them, their natural character, you want it to be real. You, at the very least should love that photo and certainly want to put up on the wall. If you’re a Head Teacher, A manager of a Nursery or the Admin Team that ‘keeps the school running’ and you want these ‘fine art portraits‘ for your school and your parents, then please – get in touch.
xxx
