The Mackies are one dynamic family, they started Firzt Realty in the South of Johannesburg a few years ago and are involved in various other companies and events.  I’m not quite sure how Sean & Toni Mackrell manage everything

Knowing them and their fun loving kiddies made me decide to make their photoshoot a real lifestyle family photoshoot!  With the older ones dancing the HAKA-HAKA and little Keldon kicking the soccer ball all over my studio…

The secret to getting great photos of kids are to make the photoshoot fun and enjoyable.  Take the spotlight off them by singing, dancing and playing games and they will soon forget all about you and the big camera.  These are the kind of photos we want to capture of children being care-free…

A smile like this one can only be captured in a moment… (ok, ok I might have something to do with it.  I asked to give their mom a real smushy kiss and as you can see it worked fantastically)

Smaller children like Keldon tend to sit still for about a second (okay maybe two if you are lucky) so the trick is to have your studio set-up beforehand and shoot loads of photos during the shoot, and review them afterwards.  Follow these photographic guidelines and a beautiful portrait of your kids are almost guaranteed

Looking at this photo you can see that doing funny poses and everyone jumping on dad etc makes for very natural and relaxed family portraits.

Riani