Mother’s Day should be a day spent honouring the women who brought us into the world. That’s a pretty big deal, right? So, if you are looking to surprise your Mum (or wife) on this special day, why not try a little bit of Mother’s Day photography. It’s a great way to spend time with your family and a perfect opportunity to get portraits of motherhood. Dad, this is your time to give mom a break and take control of the camera (or phone) with these simple tips:
With shots that are personal and family focused, whether it’s Mother’s day or not, the aim is not to get the most technically perfect shots but instead to capture spontaneous and intimate moments that share a beautiful story. To do that you should be focussing on capturing that special connection and the best way to do that is to keep things natural and candid.
While you’re snapping away look out for points of connection, for example eye contact connects the subjects by an invisible line called an implied line of sight. Even if their heads aren’t touching, a circle of connection can still be completed as they look at each other. Body connections are typically most natural. It could be a child sitting in their mother’s lap, holding hands or siblings using one hand each to hold a book can complete the connection as they both interact with the same object.
Another way to capture genuine connection and heart-felt emotion is to focus on the details – a mother holding her child’s small hand or a little one protectively wrapped around his mother’s leg.
Ok, that all sounds great but you have no idea where to start? Here are some simple activity and photo ideas for your mother or your wife:
- What are your favourite memories with your mother? What activities remind you of her? Go and take her out for the day and capture some of those special moments together.
- For some TLC, get your dressing gowns on and have a pamper morning on Mother’s Day. Think facemasks, rollers, makeup and nail polish. This also works well for little ones and makes for really cute photos!
- Get the kids involved and prepare and deliver breakfast in bed. Capture mom’s face as your little ones deliver the breakfast.
- If you are not a great cook or don’t trust your kids in the kitchen, give little gifts instead – flowers, chocolates or cards will all do the trick to get some emotional shots with mom and kids.
- Get some shots of everyone just lazing and cuddling in bed together
Whether it is just mom and you or you want dad in some of the pictures too, try using a self-timer or remote trigger, or if you have a time-lapse function on your camera use that to capture some fun moments together.
…and lastly don’t forget to print and frame some of those memories for mom – that’s a great gift for any day, even after mother’s day 🙂
Below is a selection from my recent Mother’s Day mini sessions in Grand Cayman.
