Preschool Playtime Documentary Photography Coverage

One of the special services we offer preschools is the opportunity for an alternative to traditional posed portrait photography. Not that there is anything wrong with posed portrait photography for preschoolers, but let's be honest. Most small children are not sure how to pose for a photograph. Some are scared. Others put on silly faces. Rarely is a child naturally comfortable in front of a camera.

As a creative alternative, we have found that playtime photography offers three major advantages over posed portraits. First, kids who are playing are usually having fun, and are less apt to freeze up when their photographs are taken. This leads to the second benefit, to parents, a lot more photos to choose from. And with more photos to choose from, we can offer parents more variety when it comes to ordering.

How the process works.

First we confer with the preschool director to learn the particulars: the play schedule; how many classes; how many children; where the photos will be taken; and so forth. Next we create flyers announcing our program for distribution to the parents.

We usually spend a week visiting the school to take photographs. Then we scrupulously edit and sort all the photos of the week, creating a separate photography folder for each student.

The week after we've taken photographs, we return to the preschool with our IMacs and portfolio. Upon our return, parents interested in seeing the prior week's photographs can sit down and view the photos of their young children's playtime experiences.

The images are presented by photography artists trained to facilitate viewing and ordering. They can also offer creative suggestions to parents who might want to create something out of the ordinary with their photographs such as multi-image prints, collages, partial saturation color prints, or Black + White prints.

Photography and presentation combined take two weeks. Those parents who have ordered photographs will have their orders processed and shipped directly to their homes within several weeks. Parents who missed the opportunity to view their children's photographs will be notified by flyers of how to contact us to schedule a meeting.

The Preschools themselves also benefit from our in-class coverage. In a week of photography, we create a deep pool of images marketing planners can use for promotion. In addition, we offer rebates to preschools as a way to show our gratitude for their partnership in promoting and delivering our program.