Breakfast with Tiffany: photo shoot

I love taking pictures of my family! The thing is, since i am the designated photographer, i noticed that we seldom get good family pictures. Most of the good shots are of the kids, or Dens and the kids, but seldom one that includes me. So when The Picture Company offered the SoMoms a photo session with our respective families, i did not hesitate.

As soon as i booked our session with them, i was contacted by our would-be photographer, Crystal Whang, from their Rockwell branch. She asked me questions about our family - from our hobbies to our personalities. It was a fun preparation for the shoot. Crystal also sent me some pictures and color schemes to choose from so that we can prepare well and ensure that our outfits do not clash with each other.

I did my own preparation and laid out our outfits on the bed the night before. This is to see how well they will turn out in the photos.

I also made sure that our photo shoot is scheduled at a time when the kids are neither sleepy nor hungry. This will help them be more cooperative during the shoot.

We got there 15 minutes before our scheduled time. This helps get the kids more acquainted with the place and the photographer.

We bumped into Conci (blairbitchbunny.com) and her entire closet!!! (talbog ako sa outfit preparations mo, Conci!)

Mac desktops where you can view your pictures immediately after your shoot

The shoot was fun. My son was very cooperative but my daughter was not smiling naturally during our family portraits! Crystal would make her laugh then she'd revert to her awkward smile once again. Sometimes we'd have good pictures of her laughing but Troy would be looking somewhere else. It's a bit of a challenge taking pictures of multiple kids. Amidst all that, we were not stressed at all. It was a conscious decision to just have fun and roll with it! We were all laughing at various silly poses that the kids wanted to do. I love that Crystal was also laughing and having fun with us. There was a time when Crystal couldn't take the shot anymore because she kept on laughing at Troy who wanted to pose like an old man!

After selecting your pictures, you can order Christmas cards like the one below. It's a great way to capture multiple photos on one page. You can send these to friends and relatives abroad who do not see your children so often.

The Christmas package also comes with a gift card that you can use as gift tags! See ours below.

The good news is that you can also have you family pictures taken for FREE! Just print or take a screen shot of the coupon below and schedule an appointment with any Picture Company branch (contact details below). This promo is valid until December 15, 2013 only.

Power Plant Mall - 898 2657, Greenbelt 5 - 756 0020, Bonifacio High Street - 856 1232,

The Podium - 634 2632, Alabang Town Center - 809 7370, SM Mall of Asia - 556 0165,

SM North 351 6184, Ayala Center Cebu (032) 268 2241

Last December, my dad was telling me that he wanted to send out a family Christmas card over the holidays. We had a few family photos but none that are truly holiday-card worthy. We decided that a studio session with a professional photographer was in order.

We have already done a couple of photo shoots with the kids in the past. And although we do get a couple of good pictures afterwards, the photo shoot session can often be pretty stressful. You either get a cranky baby, an uncooperative toddler, or if you're lucky - both! Having a group shot with more than one child is another challenge altogether. Getting them to smile and look at the camera at the same time entails a lot of talent and patience.

I first saw Stan's work several years ago when he was still with Stork Studio. I was immediately drawn to the way he captured the moments beautifully. Stan has left Stork Studio over a year ago and has now created a self-named brand for himself. Stan normally does the photo shoots in parks, a rented studio, or a studio set up in the comforts of your own home. It really depends on the client. I really wanted an outdoor shoot but after weighing the pros and cons, we decided that a home shoot was the most relaxing way to go.

We initially scheduled our photo shoot on a Saturday morning. Mornings are very ideal for us since the kids are well rested and 'in the mood' most of the time. However, our schedule only allowed an afternoon shoot that week. So we had to move our photo shoot to 5pm on a weekday. That made me a little bit anxious since i know the kids can already be pretty tired by then.

Stan arrived on time with his team and they immediately started to set up the studio in our living room.

Stan had a way with the kids. My children immediately felt comfortable with him. Both of the kids enjoyed the shoot so much that my son was already asking me when Uncle Stan's next visit would be right after the shoot. They happily played with Stan all throughout our session and Stan was extremely patient with them.

The entire family had a fun time during the shoot. It wasn't stressful at all. No crying babies or uncooperative toddlers. The two kids were having a blast posing for the camera. They just felt like it was playtime.

One thing i love about Stan is that he doesn't rush his clients. Although his photo shoots are usually scheduled for an hour, he doesn't mind extending it to accommodate more shots until he is sure that the family is fully satisfied.

Here are some unedited shots that Stan sent to us. Can you believe all of these are untouched? The background and shots are so clean, it's so good as it is already!