Photographs...

[LollipopViolet]

Just a random question here. Have any of you used a portrait photographer with your sn children? I have a bit of a pipe dream that I'd love to realize, but don't know if it's possible/what I'd need to do. It's years from even getting off the ground but I'd love to own my own studio and specialize in family portraits for families who have children or other relatives with a disability/SN. But I don't know if it's a viable thing, or how I'd do it, or if it's been done before. Hope this doesn't count as advertising, as I'm years from doing it and need a lot of money to start up so need other jobs first lol.

I think it would be a fantastic idea.I would love to take my dd to have a proffesional photo taken but kind of wince at the idea as am not sure how the studio would be aabout it.

Great idea...can I have a job please???

Hehe, I'm still researching to be honest. I know I'll need at least 4-5 years experience working in a studio, and LOTS of money to set up my own.

I could do resources too: social stories about going for your photos, could do lots of courses to learn Makaton etc... I quite like the idea!

I was going to go back to college to retrain...you could do mobile studio to sn schools too. :)

superfantastic, unfortunately I've got a visual impairment that stops me driving, but weirdly, doesn't stop me having success with photography, so a mobile unit wouldn't be an option although I'd love that!

My Flickr page, for those interested in seeing the type of stuff I enjoy shooting, is here

A lot of it is action stuff at the moment. I'm doing a film production course at uni and we got taught basic photography as part of that. I've just taken it and run away with it really!

My MIL had a portrait of all her GC done for her 60th.

Two of them, ds (8) and his first cousin (14) have AS. To be honest it was a nightmare from start to finish.

The photographer just couldn't get them looking natural, kept trying to get them to look into her eyes (rather than saying look at the camera) which as you can imagine, was a non-starter. She also kept trying to pose ds, which was also a disaster as he has limbs like spaghetti that just flop and won't stay put for more than two consecutive seconds and his core strength is extremely low, so her idea to arrange the GC sitting, one behind the other, in height order, within the 'V' of each others legs on the floor was an unmitigated disaster, as he was at the back, desperately trying to hold himself up with his arm, whilst trying to look but not look at her face.

Needless to say the resultant photographs were - er - um - terrible (and that's being polite). We were given one as a Christmas present and strangely, we haven't been able to find a frame we like for it yet.

The main problem with them is that ds doesn't look happy and relaxed (which is what people usually expect from a family portrait) instead he looks stressed and uncomfortable - not exactly an image you want permanently framed on your living room wall.

Such a shame as well, as he really is quite a handsome chap and usually really photogenic, but then we tend to take pictures of him when he is happy and relaxed, rather than trying to pose him.

We were told when we agreed to do it, that the session was going to be relaxed sort of reportage style with the photographer taking pictures of all the GCs just playing and being themselves, such a shame they didn't do that, as it would have suited him much better and allowed the real him to shine through.

I definitely think it would have helped a lot if the photographer had had some SN awareness, as when we tried to interject and say - ds can't do that or he will struggle with sitting in that position, she just waved us off and said she'd photographed hundreds of children and she knew what she was doing.

Lolli.. I'm a portrait artist but also do photography ..
I don't work selectively with SN but have had SN clients.

I don't see why you could do this at all :) go for it.

Studio sittings maybe hard work to get the natural look but certainly working with clients in their own home and meeting the families over a coffee before you start shooting is a good way forward.. And makes people relax.

Have a chat with local photographers and see if you can grab some work experience with them as a second photographer to build up your portfolio.. Or pull in friends and friends of friends and do lots of freebie shots...so you get a good feel of how to get the best out of people

That's what I'm thinking Thecarrotcake, I've got lots of friends who'd be willing to help out :)

Just wanted to say I love the glowstick photos Lollipop, very pretty! I'm doing a photography course myself atm and I'll give it a try myself!

I've had portrait photos done with my DS - I photograph him a lot though so I think he's pretty comfortable with the camera . I would think with many children with ASD, a good way to get them to relax would be to photograph them with their obsessions as they'll be so absorbed in it that they won't notice you.

DS has had a couple of portraits done bu school photographers. He always pulls a silly face if wee try to take one but his portraits look lovely. Perhaps that would be a niche for you (f you are succesful perhaps you can eventually afford an assistant to drive you)

Thanks everyone, seems this is something worth pursuing after uni then :)

Definately.The last school we had of our DD was a shot of the top of her head.

Go for it, great idea. You would be fantastic because you would have a lot of patience and understanding in getting sn dc to pose for photo. Can i get first portrait, please, lol.