What I Learned From Working with a Professional Family Photographer

Family portraits are one of my favourite things—they capture memories of our family as we grow and change over time. Every year, we look back into them, reminiscing the stories of our lives as they shift and grow deeper in love. 

Four years ago, our family picture was even more special, a baby girl made my daughter a mum. What has been a family of six became seven (yes, minus the dad, they broke up before she even gave birth) and it wasn’t until then when we realised how our hearts could grow to love and welcome another person into our family. 

Because of how special the occasion was, we hired a family photographer in Singapore, to give us something that’s beyond our usual studio portrait or smartphone photos. 

A Day in Front of the Camera 

We booked a photoshoot with Magicdow Photography, a Singapore-based studio, providing different types of photography services including family portraits and pet photography services. What we liked about this studio is that they’re not a type of business that delivers posed images that rather look fake or staged but instead, real-life images that picture our lifestyle and us in our true selves. 

They have these unique posing techniques that encourage authentic interaction so much that we hardly feel we’re in a photoshoot session at all. Rather than trying to achieve symmetry in our family pictures, they worked on authentic poses that portray love and lifestyle: our family hugging, laughing or fixing our eyes on our baby. 

You Don’t Have to Stage Things

I have to admit, a day before the pictorial, I was browsing Pinterest for inspirations and starting saving on my Camera Roll those that I liked and wanted to imitate on our session. However, we ended up not using them because our photographer had other ideas that resonated better with us. 

I was so obsessed with what I wanted our photos to look like, without factoring in what I wanted them to feel like. The photographer made me realised that you don’t have to stage things. If you want it to look fun, they will be the one to direct you in a way that the pictures will portray a more joyful image. 

On the contrary, if you want it to be romantic or serene, I’m sure Magicdow can handle it just as well. They may be focusing more on some parts of the pose, perhaps the hand, the hair, or whatever detail that’s going to express that feeling. 

Leave It to the Professionals, They Say 

It’s when the phrase “leave it to the professionals” made the most sense to me. 

We were very much happy with the results and quite surprised with the photos captured in-between the actual photoshoot. They have sneaked in some close-ups such as just the baby or just me and my husband. 

There were also smaller groups, such as just my daughter with her baby—and everything was just so precious. 

We have been engaging the services of Magicdow Photography for four consecutive years. This year, my granddaughter is already four years old and we have yet another baby due soon. What could be more precious than this?