Mother’s Day Photoshoot – 6 Ideas to make Mum Smile 😊
A MOTHER’S DAY GIFT TO REMEMBER!
What better gift can you give than a lovely photograph of a mother and her child. This Mother’s Day learn how to create a photoshoot that will capture the loving relationship between mums and their children. It’s also a great way to spend time with your own family by getting together for a fun Mother’s Day photoshoot.
We have compiled a list of creative photoshoot ideas for Mother’s Day to make every mother feel special. Mother’s Day is a day of celebrating mums or any important female figure in your life so let’s capture that bond using these easy tips and techniques.
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Mother’s Day Photoshoot Ideas
Idea 1 – Outdoor Photoshoot
Mother’s Day is in the season of spring and not all of us have a studio to work in! If possible, get outside for your photoshoot, whether that’s in a forest, in the field, parks or just in your garden.
If you are to do this, make sure you have scouted the location in advance. This will give you more insight into where you might want to position yourself, what background you might want to go for, and if anyone else will be there to get in your way!
To learn about composition and lighting, click here
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Idea 2 – Family Photoshoot
Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be just about a mother and child. It can be about the whole family getting together. This Mother’s Day why not get the whole family involved and make this the theme of the photo.
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Idea 3 - Adulthood
Mother’s Day isn’t just about mums and their babies. We all have mums whether you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s and older! A good idea here is a kiss from Mum. This is an easy pose as it captures that special bond and if you can capture that loving soft expression on mum’s face, you’ve cracked it!
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Idea 4 - Pregnancy
At the opposite end of adulthood, are mums to be. My number one tip for a maternity photoshoot is to have the hands on the belly, this is a good way to show the connection between a mother and their unborn child and draws attention to her belly. Family maternity sessions are also really effective. Keep it light and fun and try to focus on the interaction between family members whilst making sure to keep the bump present.
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Idea 5 - Having fun
Sounds simple but a key tip is to make sure it’s fun. As ideas, you can capture the interaction in playing, dancing, cooking, painting or any activity between mother and child. The best tip here is to continue to take pictures until they forget you are there. Don’t expect the magic to happen in the first few shots, it will take time before those natural shots start coming, so be patient, make them feel at ease and wait for that special moment of play between the mother and her child.
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Idea 6 – Focus on detail
It is not just about getting faces in your picture. The little details can give you the same feeling and in many cases, an even stronger feeling. Showing the connection between a parent and their child doesn’t need to be a full-body portrait so try to find the little details that make them unique.
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Photography Tips and Camera Techniques
When creating your photoshoot for Mother’s Day, or any occasion in fact, you need to be in control of the visual effects of photography. This could be from making the most of the available light to blurring the background. Learning the technical aspects of photography takes time, a lot of time, but fear not my photography friends, below are our quick tips on making your Mother’s Day photoshoot go well without having to do a degree in photography!
Tip 1 – Zoom in
An easy tip here is to simply zoom in. Zooming in helps blur out the background and compresses faces slightly to give a more flattering look. No one wants their face stretched out and photos of faces at a wide-angle does exactly that. On most common cameras zooming to around a focal length of 50mm or above will do the trick. To learn about what focal lengths are in photography, click here.
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Tip 2 – Wide Aperture
Building on tip 1 you can help blur the background further by using a wide aperture. Use the A or AV setting (Aperture Priority mode) and set it to the lowest number possible. This will give you your widest available aperture and added with the zooming in tip, will help to get a crisp portrait and blurry background. To learn more about apertures in photography, click here.
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Tip 3 - Plain background
Let’s put the focus onto what’s important, the mum and her kids! Try not to clutter up the background and use a plain background when taking portrait pictures. A background with different objects, shapes and colours will just distract from the main part of the picture. Using a plain wall, outside in a field or simply using the sky will do the job.
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Tip 4 – Lighting
Most people don’t have a studio to hand so outside it is! When using daylight try to shoot at sunset or sunrise to get the best lighting for your photography. This will give you that lovely orange, warm light that will suit your Mother’s Day photoshoot to a tee.
Try not to take pictures in the middle of the day under bright sunlight. The look will be too white, and your pictures may look washed out in places. If you are to take pictures in the middle of the day then try to take pictures in the shade or on a cloudy day as this will give you a softer light.
To learn more about lighting in photography, click here.
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Tip 5 – Post-processing
Post-processing is what you do to a photo after you’ve taken it and all professional photographs will be post-processed in some way. The below pictures have all been adjusted in some way. I generally use Lightroom to add general adjustments which increased contrast, saturation and sharpness. However, there are many free programs and apps out there that will allow you to adjust your photography and add those finishing touches.
To learn how to use Lightroom properly click here.
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