Eek, the summer holidays are almost over, we’re down to the last day or two!
New uniforms ordered. New shoes purchased. Haircuts done.

It’s the first morning.

They’re at the door, about to leave - quick grab the phone, get a quick shot.

Below are my top 5 tips for getting better phone shots of the kiddies on their first day back at school:

1. Get down to your child’s eye level. This makes for much more striking images of children than shooting from above or below.

2. Have the sun to the side of your child, not behind you. This creates much more flattering light for portraits.

3. Make sure your child is centred in the photo. This helps stop the features getting distorted by the phone camera’s lens.

4. Try different poses. Start with the usual, standing tall and straight, feet squarely planted. But then try some different poses too - like leaning back against a wall, or getting in for a close up portrait; resting the head on arms.

5. Use portrait mode, if you have it, to get a close up and blur out the background. Move your child away from whatever the background is (front door / fence etc) if you can, as this helps enhance the blurry background look.

And of course, don’t stress if they don’t look straight at the phone. If they want to pull silly faces, or look away, that’s OK, cause that is who they are at this point in time. And when you look back on the photos, you’ll want to remember the little nuances of their personalities, not just the clean, pressed uniforms.

Happy snapping and good luck for the first day of school.

Sara xxx