It was not expected of, to receive so much "likes" and "comments", when I posted these two photos on my Facebook, using them as my profile picture and cover photo, respectively. I posted these photos when I received them "fresh" from the photographer Irene from the SG Cloud Productions, with who we just had a outdoor family photography about 3 weeks ago.
My current "profile picture" on FB
And this is the "cover photo"
The last time we took an outdoor family photo-shoot was 2 years ago. It's a very nice set of family photos to be kept to show to my grandchildren and grand-grandchildren. So when SG Cloud Productions contacted me to do an outdoor photography for our family, I gladly accepted the offer. Why not, right?
As it's just a 60-minute long session, we do not want to travel too far from home, otherwise we would have chosen the Garden by the Bay. So we chose a park that is relatively near home, that we are very familiar of and that we love - AMK-Bishan Park (or more commonly known as Bishan Park). We like that this park as it has a lot of space that allows many different activities to go on concurrently so it's a very lively atmosphere, it has very good natural light, lots of beautiful trees, or in summary, a park with lots of characters!
We initially wanted to go to the playground site, as that was the place where our children are most fond of, so that the photographer could capture more of their laughter and happiness. However, after discussing with the photographer, we agreed with her and decided to go to the other side, i,e., the McDonald side, instead, as she shared that this side of the park is more suitable for photo-shooting.
Irene, the photographer, tried to break the ice with our children by giving them a small animal clip for each of them to take care of, and have some little chats with them. That works for Xi Yu, since she is a true animal lover, but not for Hao Re. But now that they are older, they can accept the concept of a photographer very well, so they do not have any problem having a photographer tagging along with us to explore the park.
I preempted Irene that our children are not used to looking in the camera, as we usually do candid shoots and seldom disturb them to ask them to pose or smile for the camera. But we did agree that at the start of the session, we should try to do some "all-look-at-the-camera-now" kinda shoots so that at least we would have some nice family photos for keepsake.
And I am so glad that we did that. The family photo above and below are two of the photos taken in the first 15 minutes of so. I like the photo below a lot. I think it really speaks of our family - mum is always there to take care/protect of the girl as she still can't let go of her yet, still think she is not independent enough. And so does the girl who always wants to stick to mum, wherever, whenever, despite that she is so big (in size) now. The boy always want to out-do his dad, because he thinks his dad can do a lot of things, and you see how happy he is to be taller than his dad. And the dad, who always finds way to bond with his boy.
One of my favorite family photos!
We didn't communicate much with Irene prior to the session, which we should have, and hence none of us brought along any props. But luckily they have a bicycle and a kick scooter with them, they always bring their "vehicle" with that whenever we go to a park. So that's become the "props". These material things do helps to make the photography session more interesting. So after some family shoots, we requested for Irene to take some photos of the kids together and individually. With this 10 minutes or so, we confirmed that our children didn't response well to the camera and/or photographer, they are really not used to do that. But I was very happy when I looked at the final products, really not bad!
The kids with their favorite kick scooter and bicycle. Hao Re has recently "upgraded" to a bike, otherwise I think it's cuter if both are on scooters. But with this combination, can tell clearly that he is a big brother (people often think opposite)
A mixture of "look-at-the-camera" shoots and candid shoots
Managed to get the children to agree to pose for the camera again, so we quickly assembled and got a few shoots taken, LOL!
And then we left the green field and went to the river side. Though it doesn't look pretty, but when the photos are taken at the right angle, the effect is really nice, especially with a small field of thatched. See our children can smile a lot more naturally when they don't have to smile to the camera. That's how I like to capture them as, as we can sense the smile is from the bottom of the heart.
Family bonding time! I think it's very likely that when we do our next family photography, which I don't know when, we might not be able to carry the kids anymore as they have grown so big (both height and weight)
And then kids got distracted. There were some kids catching fishes in the river, so they wanted to go there. We quickly grabbed this opportunity to ask for another couple shoot. Irene laughed at us and asked "how long exactly you have not taken any couple shoots?". We thought for a while, but seriously, we couldn't remember when, which means it must be some time ago. One of the best things coming out of the family photography session is that we get a few nice couple shoots, which is really, really, very rare to come by, as we often forgot to have ourselves in the photos, or either of us in the photos but not both. We are thankful for Irene to accede to our request to capture this old dull couple than the pair of cute children :-)
The man that I have known since I was 8 years old. Still the same him and still the same me :-)
The little girl really wanted to get into the water while the big brother refused to go in with her, because the stones/floor beds of the river is very slimy. Being a clean freak, he surely won't want to step in. So I have no choice but the go in with the girl so that I can help her to balance herself. We don't mind her falling down and all, but the problem is we didn't bring any changing clothes and we couldn't risk for her to get wet.
Mum and daughter shoots!
This is a very nice photo to show how focus the children can be when they interact with the mother nature. Love this kind of shoot a lot!
So all in all, we are really happy with the photos. To be honest, we didn't expect to receive such nice photos, seeing how our children refused to pose for the camera for like 1/3 of the time. And that we don't have matching shirts to put on, and this old woman doesn't have any make up and accessories or whatever to "beautify" herself. But well, that's why they can call themselves professional photographers - they have a magic wand to produce nice photos of even uncooperative kids and unglam mum, LOL! One thing is for sure though, is that, we keep it real, the photos reflect the real us, non-pretentious, it's exactly like how we would look like when you see us in any of the park :-)
So what's next for us? To print out some of our favorite photos and frame them up, and to do up a photobook for the keepsake for many years to come!
Thank you SG Cloud Productions!
If you like to have an outdoor family photography session with SG Cloud Productions like we did, do visit their website, or follow them on their Facebook page at "sgcloudproductions", or their Instagram "Sgcloudproductions".
And the good news is they are now running a Family Photoshoot Promotion. And if you provide them with a promo code "#KAM", before 31st September 2015 (do note this refers to photoshoot date, not booking date) you will receive a 10% Cashback Discount (usually for first 20 bookings only. They would confirm your booking upon full payment deposit for this promotion.
About SG Cloud Productions
SG Cloud Productions is a young company filled with splashes of creativity and refreshing ideas. We discover and create the images you love! We are based in Singapore and we provide premium professional photography services. What’s more!? We mark your story down with brilliant colours and make every single moment, memory and experience much more memorable to you and your love ones.
We specialize in Maternity, Children & Family Outdoor Photoshoot, and in additional we do Photoshoot for Kids Parties too. We've a team of 4 photographers, and each brings out different style in their photos. What we do best is to bring out beautiful natural shots of people, our photos style are usually bright & happy. With a strong emphasis on quality, visual creativity & client satisfaction, we take great pride in our work and consistently meet our clients' expectations and needs at premium professional levels, as testimonials show.
(Disclaimer: We received a complimentary outdoor family photography session from the SG Cloud Productions. Edited version of the photos were received from them, and collages were produced by me, and all opinions are genuinely mine. No monetary compensation is given)