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Pre-shoot preparation: Organizing your school photography workflow for success.

In part one of this series, I covered how to gather the information you’ll need for a school photoshoot day, determine if a school is the right fit for you, and set yourself up for success by organizing the student and parent info. 

In part two, we’ll approach the workflows for getting prepared chronologically, starting a month or two before the shoot through the day of. These to do lists are part of my personal process; adjust as needed to fit your methods and school photography business.

1-2 months before the school photo day:

School portrait gear check.

Depending on the type of shoot you will be offering and what you already own, you may need to purchase additional gear. Considering my usual specialty is family documentary photography, a lot of these items weren’t already part of my gear. These are my must-have items for a school portrait set-up:

• Camera 
• Portrait lens (e.g., 35mm or 50mm)
• Extra camera batteries
• An off camera flash
• Lighting setup
• Extension cords
• Backdrop
• Backdrop stand
• Clamps
• Sandbags to weigh down your equipment (Safety first!)
• A large enough SD card or two
• A stool or chair for kids to sit on
• Any props you may be using
• Duct or painters tape (to secure backdrop edges and cords)
• A notepad and pen for any notes
• Printed QR codes if using for optimizing workflow (see more in the “Day of the photoshoot” section)

Here are some helpful, but optional, items I like to bring, especially for preschool photoshoots: 

• Something squishy to kneel on to save your knees
• If allowed, a reward to give the kids for a job well done (I use dye-free gummies)
• A few neutral toys to use to grab attention or offer as a calming strategy
• Bubbles or a speaker to play music (These create a fun atmosphere for the super little kids to get them smiling)

The sky is the limit on gear, so think through what you want your session to look like and what would make this a great experience for you and the students.

Hold a school portrait model session. 

While having a visual example is optional, I would HIGHLY encourage it.  This is about setting expectations for parents and the school so you end up with very happy clients. It also gives a professional and familiar feel to families who are used to big-box photo companies showing examples before picture day. 

To create a visual example of what you will be offering, reach out to and secure a model who well represents the age group of the students you will be working with. I usually start by asking a friend with a child who matches my demographic and would be willing to trade a model release for a few professional digitals of their kiddo. If this isn’t an option, you could send out a model call on your social media or email list.   

Next, create the setup you will be using and take several photos. If you’ll be offering multiple poses or backdrop options, grab those during your model session. This model session will also be a great testing ground to see how to get as many good poses and smiles in a short amount of time as well as how your setup works or doesn’t work for you.

Create a school portrait landing page. 

Especially if this is your first time working with a particular school, there will be so many questions from both the school and parents. Even once you’ve established a relationship, there will always be new parents to whom you are a brand new company handling their children’s school photos. Rather than answering potentially hundreds of emails, I strongly recommend creating a landing page with most, if not all, of the answers. 

Zenfolio’s custom pages combined with the custom layout block give you a chance to do just that. Before adding the new page to your site menu, choose from standard blocks, custom layout block templates, or design your own layout. Then use images from your model session and add text blocks to answer questions about pricing, products and packages, delivery methods, preregistration, expected time lines, how to contact you, special instructions for the shoot, and other parent and teacher FAQ’s. 

This page can also be made less accessible to general website visitors if you prefer, by adding it only to the footer of your website. This is great if, like me, school portraits aren’t your primary type of photography, and still keeps the page available when you want to send out quick links or create a QR code to add to a flyer later. 

Create a custom school portrait price list.

Photographers on Zenfolio–as long as your plan includes selling–can use the Price List features to not only choose which labs they’d like to use, but also build custom stores for their school shoot. You can offer digitals, prints, or photo gifts, either individually as add-ons, or grouped as packages. When it comes to how much you should charge, see the “What products to offer and how much to charge” section below. 

How to determine what products to offer and how much to charge. 

In my experience, it’s important that what you charge makes sense with your cost of doing business and sets you apart in the market. 

The first question has to be answered by you. What would you need to make in order for this type of photography session to be sustainable? Do not forget to include any new equipment you had to invest in for this session or will have to invest in again. What is your break even number? There are several CODB calculators out there that you can utilize to arrive at a final number that makes sense for you.

The next question is: Where do you want the bulk of this number to come from? If no session fee was charged, as I hear is the common practice, then your profit has to come from your products. As non physical products, digitals have the highest profit margin. Spend time strategizing how you could package these and any physical product you’re offering to ensure your CODB is well met in product alone.

2-3 Weeks before the school photo day:

Create and share promotional flyers.

Using the photos you created in your model session along with your favorite graphic design program, create a promotional flyer. If you don’t have a favorite program already, tools like Canva have free options and loads of templates to choose from. I like to find a template and plug in my branding colors, fonts, and logo. 

It is valuable to create a flyer that you can print that will ultimately end up in the parent’s hands as well as create a digital version that you can either email or have the school send. Multiple means of communicating the information to families make for a successful picture day.

Be sure your flyer clearly outlines what is to come and what you need for the parents–simple and clear is best. Must-have information to include on your flyer:

• The event name (e.g. “Fall Photos”)
• The date(s)
• Additional info via a link if it’s a PDF or QR code if it’s a physical copy
• Call to action leads to your landing page or pre-registration

Throughout this process, I find things go smoothly when I stay in communication with the school by periodically checking in. I share where I am in my prep and let them know if I need anything from them. 

For example, on one of these check-ins, I let them know I am ready to order their flyer and request the number of copies they will need. We can then coordinate a good time for delivery so that parents will have it in their possession a few weeks before picture day. I also ask about their schedule for parent communications so I can figure out when to send them the digital flyer. Some schools may send an extra email with this information, while other schools have a regular cadence of weekly or bi-weekly parent emails.

Based on this information, I will also send out the digital flyer to the school, requesting and confirming their ability forward to parents as another reminder. Ideally, this happens about one week before the photo day, and is also a great time to remind parents to pre-register as you finish organizing your galleries for the big day.

Build a shots list.

In collaboration with the school, create a list of shots or poses. It may be acceptable to even add to that list, depending on your pose number goals and how much time you’ve allotted for each sitting. Use a list created in a word document or print out some inspiration images of poses you’d like to include. On the day of the session, plan on keeping these near you to reference as you go. The important thing is creating a flexible but repeatable list that keeps you on track for each student. 

Create the school photo day schedule.

As discussed in the foundation and preparation portion of this series, this would be a great time to email your schedule to the school and request an itinerary of class order and rough times. This gives you plenty of time to communicate if something needs to be adjusted.

1 Day before the school photo shoot day:

My to-do list is usually short by this point. I send a final check in email to the school and double check my gear list is ready to go. Taking the time to test all your gear and to export and print the QR codes will give you peace of mind during the big day and prevent delays or unprofessional impressions. If you prefer paperless, you don’t even need to print the QR codes–you can download them to your tablet and scan them right from your device.

The day of the photoshoot:

It’s the big day and now it’s time to put your preparation to the test! 

Photographers that use Next Zen have the best tools to help you get into an amazing flow. Whether you had parents preregister or used CSVs from the school, an amazing new option from Zenfolio is to use the QR Code Workflow feature. 

During the school photo day, take the first photo of the child holding the QR code and then the rest without. Keep doing this for every child. When you get home after the shoot, just upload your files as usual, and Zenfolio will sort them in the background while you get on with your day. Images are instantly mapped to the correct subject. Your QR reference images will be automatically hidden from the galleries, so the parents still have a clean, professional viewing experience.

Final school photo day prep:

Arriving at least an hour early to the school, take this time to:

• Set up your gear
• Double check your setup for safety risks such a tripping or tipping hazards (ask a staff member to double check with you)
• Connect to Wi-Fi
• Introduce yourself to the staff and teachers

Keep the process moving: Utilizing a transition space. 

Gathering a small group of chairs around a table of books near where you are holding your session is a great way of keeping the flow going. This transition space helps kids hear and see what’s coming while still giving them something to do while they wait. A child can approach their turn knowing exactly what is expected and ready to shine. 

Additionally this transition method allows teachers or staff to bring the class in smaller waves of 3 or 4 students which reduces routine and class disruptions. Having 25 preschoolers wait in a line can lead to some grumpy kids when it’s finally their turn!

Keeping attention for preschool portraits: Get those eyes looking at the camera longer.

Anyone who has worked with children knows that their little eyes don’t stay focused on one thing for long. When trying to achieve a school portrait, you know this makes your window of capturing those sweet eyes very small. So how do we extend that window? A simple trick I learned involved a small, colorful toy and some painter’s tape. 

I strapped this little guy right to the top of my lens, and could then say, “Look at my crazy little unicorn!” or “Ooh, that was silly, can you show the unicorn?” It gave something fun and fascinating to focus on which resulted in great eye contact in their photos. 

How to get genuine smiles: A note on working with small children.

Empathy is your best tool on photo day. Imagine you are 3 ½ feet tall… You live in a world of grown ups telling you what to do and where to go. You may have finally just gotten used to your new routine at school. 

But today, you are going somewhere new. Your teacher leads you into a room of big lights. There is a tall wall of solid color that seems to reach to the sky. A stranger points a black box at you and tells you to smile, but you’re confused and maybe even a little bit scared–isn’t it supposed to be storytime? 

It’s a lot, right? 

Viewing picture day from a preschooler’s perspective certainly gives us a window into why their school photo faces look so frozen–or worse, are in tears. In my experience, there are several things you can do to gently lead a small heart through pictures that result in genuine and relaxed smiles. 

When working with toddlers age 1-5, I find that there are a few types of personalities. If you can identify which of these children are standing before you (maybe with some help from their teacher), what motivates them, and puts them at ease, then you can get the best photos and the best experience for all!

• The leader: This child is quickly comfortable and loves to show their peers how it’s done. If you let them go first, it helps them, and it helps the shyer ones know what to expect
• The brave follower: This child is up for the challenge but they want to see how it’s done first. Don’t mistake their shyness for a lack of courage, and give lots of praise.
• The slow adjuster: This child may find pictures too overwhelming at first. It may be best to slowly introduce them to the concept and be willing to try a second sitting later in the day with a teacher or favorite toy.
• The rebel: These kids are probably my favorite. They really don’t want to smile just for the fact you told them to. But, they love it when you say, “Smiles scare me.” Watch their face light up as they give you a huge grin just to see your “terrified” reaction. 
• The imaginative one: If you ask this child to be a dinosaur, or Spiderman, or Elsa, they will happily show you that they are, in fact, that person. They obviously have a big imagination and enjoy showcasing it immensely. Take a few shots of these personas (mom and dad still buy those T-rex photos that perfectly document this stage). When they’ve sufficiently impressed their audience, feel free to say, “Okay I need you to be Connor again for one second, and then you can go back to being Peter Parker.” By this point they are so happy that they give the best smiles.
• The performer: This child loves to sing or dance. Hum a few bars of their favorite song (“Wheels on the Bus anyone?) and snap photos of their delight. 
• The reward seeker: This child is highly motivated by the reward you brought with you. They are ready and willing to give you their best smile if it means they get the goods. I like to surprise this child with a bonus reward when they do a fantastic job. And you can be sure this kid will remember you next time it’s photo day. 🙂
• The no-go: No matter what you try, this child is not warming to the idea of picture day. They may be experiencing a high level of anxiety, and it’s just too much. You should never cause extreme stress for a child to check a box. Instead, communicate to the school leadership the situation. They may help you strategize or let the parent know there may be no photo this time. I have had success when it was offered that the parents attend a re-shoot day, and we let them sit near their student during the picture. 

Keeping up with demand: How picture day doesn’t have to be the day students and teachers dread.

When I started working with schools, the biggest pain point I had heard from teachers was long sittings for the students. The big-box school photo companies I was being hired to replace had taken an excessive amount of time with each student. 

This was mainly due to their need to manually enter in each child’s information to stay organized. Picture day is exciting for a child, but quickly turns to boredom and upset when delay after delay adds to their wait time. This manual method leads to stress on the teachers who would just like to happily move through the process. I don’t know if you know what it’s like to keep a group of a dozen two-year-olds on hold for longer than expected, but trust me, it’s a nerve wracking experience for all–and bored 12-year-olds are similarly challenging. 

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. With Zenfolio, photographers can utilize the quick and easy QR Code Workflow feature to stay organized–and still be able to give individualized attention to each student in a playful and timely manner. 

Alright; now that you have both child psychology and organization handled, you can see how this process is very doable, even for a lone photographer. Unless you have energy to match the children you’re photographing, you’ll probably be very tired, but you can do it! 

Now to finish the process with a bang–keep an eye out for part three; all my best post-shoot workflows and image delivery tips.

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