It’s that time of year again!!!
Costumes – Oh no! Did we get our earrings???
Make-Up – Wait!!! Is it the pink lipstick or the red???
Hair – For the love! Which side is the part on!?!?
Sequins – How did I end up with a sequin there??
Bobby Pins – I KNOW I just bought a new pack of bobby pins…
Okay, READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP!
DANCE STUDIO PICTURES TIME!!!!
Yes, we are photographers BUT we are also the parents of three girls who dance so WE GET IT! We have decided to come up with a little blog of the TOP 5 TIPS for getting ready for dance studio pictures!
1. COSTUMES & ACCESSORIES… OH MY!
We highly recommend that you line out your dancer(s) costumes ONE WEEK prior to your scheduled pictures to confirm that you have each piece of your costume, as well as, all of the accessories. Costume – check! Arm/Leg Pieces – check! Hair Piece – check! Earrings – check! CORRECT color tights – check! CORRECT color and type of shoes – check! Prop? – check! This should give you enough time to check with your studio owner or teacher to ask about any pieces you may be missing or any questions you may have. When you have confirmed you have everything, go ahead and pack it in your suitcase, dance case, garment bag, etc. and DON’T TOUCH IT until time to bring for pictures.
2. HAIR TIES, WATCHES/JEWELRY AND BRIGHTLY COLORED NAIL POLISHES ARE NOT ACCESSORIES!!!
As your beautiful dancer is about to walk through that door to go and give their sassiest face to the camera… Make sure you do a triple-check of their appearance. Having three girls, we know they get into the habit of placing their hair ties on their wrists and then forgetting about them… There should not be anything on their wrists, fingers, necks or nails unless requested by your studio director / teacher. This saves you the awkward picture and the money from having to pay the photographer for their time to photoshop the unnecessary accessories out… Win, win.
3. HAIR HAIR HAIR - *cough, cough* IS IT SAFE TO BREATHE THIS MUCH HAIRSPRAY?
Confirm with your studio director / teacher as to HOW your hairstyle should be for each dance. Some studios, quite simply, just require a bun. Easy peasy, right? Eh…. High bun, mid bun or low bun? Left part, right part, no part – so we do the hokie pokie… sorry, I digress. Some studios require hair changes for each dance. For those lovely dancers that have that long, lustrous, thick hair… we really feel for you. It takes a tribe! With that being said, our tip is to have an abundance of hair spray, gel, bobby pins, hair ties, hair nets, breathing masks, protective eyewear, etc. But double check with your director / teacher for their hair so you don’t show up and your dancer’s hair is completely different from everyone else’s and you have a mini panic attack while some of the others are giving you the evil side eye and your dancer is crying because there are 3 moms all trying to help you change it as quickly as possible while pulling on that tender, tender head... Been there, done that.
4. MAKE-UP … OR DOWN… PLEASE DON’T WIPE IT ALL AROUND…
Again, as with everything, check with your director/teacher. Most studios will allow you to decide how much or how little make-up you would like for your dancer. Because, at the end of the day, these pictures are for YOU! Ask what lipstick color you need… a pink shade or a red shade. Bring your make-up case with you, in case you are asked to add a little more blush or a little of this, little of that… The biggest item that we can advise you to bring is… drumroll, please… MAKE-UP WIPES!!!!! Those little hands just can’t quit touching that artistic make-up job and smearing lipstick all over… OR… Meltdowns – 1, 2, 3… GO! Nothing like smeared mascara running… well, everywhere. Joker, anyone? Make-up wipes are the save all!
OH! One more tip in this section… Right before your beauties walk through the door, have them SMILE. Who likes RED teeth? No one, ever.
5. PATIENCE – OH, COME ON!
IT’S YOUR TIME!!!! Wait… The class before us isn’t finished yet!?!?! But… but… I have a restless 3-year old… IN A COSTUME! It happens. We don’t like for it to happen, but sometimes it is out of the photographer’s control. Life happens. Sometimes an issue arises within the photography studio that was not anticipated. Or, previous group has a dancer that may have shown up late because of a family emergency. Could be that a previous group had a dancer that arrived with the wrong hair style (see #3 above). There may be another restless 3-year old in the group before that is having a meltdown and the teacher and photography staff are trying to control the tears (see #4 – make-up wipes) to ensure the most beautiful picture possible for that sweet little ballerina’s family… Expect the unexpected. We suggest bringing a little extra bag of activities (coloring book, tablet, cards, etc.) and maybe some snacks (PLEASE NOT CHEETOS OR CHEESY ANYTHING – Yes, we have had to photoshop cheesy fingerprints from costumes before….). And the biggest tip we can give is WAIT TO PUT ON THEIR LIPSTICK until right before they walk in for their pictures.
Again, we cannot stress enough, please check with your studio director / teacher for ANY questions you have.
The studio director’s / dance teacher’s job is to POSE your little dancer and ensure they have the pointiest little toes they are capable of – because that is THEIR specialty. OUR specialty is to ensure you have the best picture we can provide based on what we are provided. So, when your dancer arrives in front of our camera and you have followed all of our tips above, then that is what we will deliver. And, well, if not, we will deliver to you the best and clearest picture of them with their incomplete costume, wrong hair, post-temper tantrum make-up oh oh’s that you can pull out to embarrass them with years down the road. (We, personally, have some of those, too.)
WE LOVE OUR DANCERS!
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