We have been wanting to have a family photoshoot for the longest time. Reason being that we hardly have any family photos taken, as one of us has to be the camera man, and we do not like to ask a passer-by to take for us. So as a result, as you can see in our blog, most of the photos are mostly just the kids, or sometimes kid(s) with one parent. It is very, very rare to have photos of all 4 of us. I realised this some time ago when I wanted to find a photo to be included in the "About Us" page, but ended up had to search through months and months of archive to finally find one that I can use.
I think this happens to most families, unless the dad or the mum is hard working enough to bring a tripod for their outing all the time. My hub is not for the idea of lugging along the tripod, and I couldn't blame him, could I? To engage a third party, a professional photographer to do the job seems to be the best way. I reckon probably to do it once yearly would be a nice thing, for the memory keeping sake. We haven't been doing a professional photoshoot for a few years, so we definitely needed one.
Then comes the question on to have the shoot outdoor and not indoor? When the kids were younger, we had brought them for a few indoor studio shoots, some were those just a few shoots. Unfortunately the experiences were not too pleasant and the kids were not easy to be talked into collaborating with the photographers, they were either pretty tensed up, or not interested in the toys/props provided, or created a big mess which upset the photographer quite a bit :-P. So this time round, we wanna try an outdoor shoot instead. Besides, we are a family who really love the great outdoor, and so we think and we hope the kids would be more opened up without being confined within the four walls.
So when there was an opportunity came up to have a photoshoot with the Natsuki Photography, I immediately jumped up and responded to the opportunity at the next second. And since that day, I have been so looking forward to the photoshooting day!
We chose to have the shoot at the Hort Park, a beautiful garden that is not too crowded, and with many different themes of garden landscaping. We visited the park a few times, and as far as I can remember, the kids were always in happy mood while we were there. We preferred to do it in the late afternoon, as we reckon the kids are usually in a better mood, and more playful and happier after 4pm or so, that is after a nap (for Xi Yu only if she prefers to), and some light bits for the afternoon break.
One thing with outdoor shoot though, is the weather. We were so lucky and so thankful that it was a great sunny bright day. It certainly helped to brighten up our mood and provide the best setting for the photographer! We can plan for everything else, but we have no control of the weather. Guess it's depending on our luck?
After we met up with the photographer, we had a little chat with her (and her assistant), who is a very kind and patient young lady. She is really patient with the kids (and adults) and she gave us plenty of time and space to relax, and not to tense up for the shoot, especially important for the kids. She is not those type who just wanted to get some photos taken within the stipulated time agreed upon and then leave. On the contrary, she was not bothered with the time, I can sense that she is more concern of a job well done than keeping to the the agreed timing, but of course couldn't expect her to shoot for the entire day if we only booked her for 1-2 hours. Just to say that she is willing to go the extra mile, got it?
I was a little worried if the kids would refuse to be photographed, especially so for Hao Re, as he is one of those who doesn't like to be captured, and would not pose/smile for the camera. To my relief, after some time, the kids did not bother about their presence at all. They called them "jiejie" and "gorgor" and they really thought they came to play with them! What we did was to walk around the park like we usually did, and the kids were happy to play with the blow bubbles that they photographer has kindly provided. We stopped whenever we felt like, the kids went off to play at the playground as they liked. I really like how natural it is, that we hardly felt any awkward moments to be photographed. Okay, us adults were a bit pretentious at times, but the kids were surely not.
We were there for almost 2 hours, and we totally enjoyed it! The kids have lots of fun, especially that they have 2 extra playmates that day.
Now, how do the photos turned out? We received the photos in a disc after 2 weeks or so.
I have to say, I totally love the photos! Most, if not all of the photos!
I love how she managed to captured the kids' smile and expression when they were at play, it's so natural! It's the exact smiles we see on their face everyday. I am so thankful for these photos. These are the best faces I wish to see on them everyday and she has helped us to capture them! These photos are just too precious :-))
Our Princess Tiger, she is so cute, isn't she?
Look at the handsome smiles!
And what about the family photos, those with the 4 of us in? Yes, I can proudly say from now on, I would not have problem showing people a nice photo of our family. I am very glad the photos turned out right, as we didn't prepare our matching outfits. Most families would go for a photoshoot with a themed shirt, or at least a themed color. We didn't, we just went with whatever we had put on for that day. Maybe it would be nicer if we had gone with a themed shirt/color, but I now think that it's not that bad without it, I think the photos turned out to be more natural (sour grape, not?) :-)
The photographer is so kind to make these nice collages for us! I could definitely make good use of these photos :-)
The photographer told me that she had selected too many photos, and she edited more photos than she has initially promised to. Good for us, haha. Plus all the very nice collages that she has created for us. And don't forget the many original edited photos. It is really not easy to choose one that I like the most. I really like them all. But if I really, really have to choose one, this is my favorite of all:
The best pair of sibling in the world :-)
Well, if you have not seen enough of us, and would like to see more, the photographer has so kindly help to make a iMovie (photos slideshow) out of the edited photos and collages. I love this, and thank you so much for making it for us.So if you would like to see more of our photos, click the video below. Enjoy!
Our verdict - excellent experience and excellent photos!
Very honestly. If we ever need to engage a photographer for a party, or any of our anniversary, or gathering with friends, or for some special occasions, etc, we would definitely engage the Natsuki Photography again! For her patient, and for her genuine effort to get some beautiful shoots for her clients.
And you know what? These photos arrived to our doorstep at the best timing, as today, 30 May is my birthday!! So I take this as my birthday gift, which I would sincerely treasure :-)
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If you like what you have read and/or like what you have seen, book a session with Natsuki Photographer to have photos of your family taken! You may go to their FB page "Natsuki Photography" to view more of her work.
Photography Session with Natsuki Photography (Children, Family, Couple, Friendship)
And the good news is - the photographer has kindly agreed to give a 25% off to our readers, that's you!
Usual price: $180 You will get back a disc that includes: Mininum 25 Edited Images (soft copies), Personalised Disc Cover (soft copy), and all diptychs and collages (soft copies)
*Disc will be mailed to you within 2-3 weeks upon completion of photoshoot.
*To get back all other photos with top up $100 (comes a iMovie photo slideshow)
*Diptychs means those photos that are side by side or with some designs/wordings
*Basic props will be provided by us: bubbles, chalkboard, fake apples... feel free to bring your own props!
What you need to do is to just quote "The Kam Family" when you book a session with Natsuki, you will be getting the 25% off, and that's only $135 for a great experience. Note that you will need to make confirmation with Natsuki within ONE month from the date of this blog post, meaning till the end of June.
If you want to purchase the rest of the photos, the 25% off is also applied, meaning you only pay an extra of $75 for all the original photos PLUS a iMovie photo slideshow.
That's not all, if you click "LIKE" for the "Natsuki Photography" and "The Kam Family" Facebook page, you will get an extra 5% off, meaning you only pay $128 for the photoshoot, and to top up $71 to get back all the photos plus the iMovie photo slideshow.
Don't miss this great opportunity to have a photoshooting session!
To make a booking, you may send an e-mail to natsukiphotography@hotmail.
com. Or after clicking "LIKE" for the Natsuki Photography, proceed to send them a PM.
Disclaimer: Natsuki Photography has kindly sponsored a photography session for our family. No monetary compensation was given. All opinions are on my own.