But back to pictures. We generally try to take family photos with a professional photographer once a year, and so far, we've had three different family photographers. Here are our experiences them.
1. Ringo Chau Productions
Family-friendly: 3/5 Fine for pregnancy pics, but perhaps not great for family photos involving young children, as he didn't have an assistant (we have found this to be essential for getting fidgety little ones to smile/look at the camera in family photos).
Aesthetic appeal: 4.5/5 I love the dreamy feel of these photos - looking back at them four years later, I still love them.
Overall impressions: 4/5
Ringo was our wedding photographer, so during my first pregnancy, we immediately thought of him and contacted him when we wanted to take pregnancy pictures. We found Ringo to be efficient and professional; he took so many beautiful pictures for us. He came to meet us in our home/the beach and park downstairs, so this was perfect when I was so big! I really love these pictures; I think Ringo did an amazing job of capturing how in love I felt with both my husband and my baby in those final weeks leading up to the birth.
2. Diva Photo Value for money: 3/5 $980 for a 1.5-hour shoot; 10 edited soft copies provided.
Family-friendly: 3.5/5 I feel a bit conflicted about this because we took our photos in Diva's studio, which was clean and bright, so it should have been a very family friendly affair. But perhaps we just aren't studio types, because Bobo (then 1.5) was sort of grumpy and bored, and we only managed to get one picture of him smiling!
Aesthetic appeal: 3.5/5 I think the pictures from this shoot are okay - my Wawa bump is featured prominently, and we got a few family photos, but I think we all look a bit wooden. I guess there's a limit to how much we can do within four walls with a sleepy toddler. This is the only time we've done a studio shoot - we've learned they aren't really for us!
Overall impressions: 3/5
I picked Diva mainly because their studio is near our home (I was at the time, again, very big) and because I knew there would be an assistant helping us keep Bobo's eyes on the camera, but she wasn't as skilled/dedicated to her post as we had hoped. It was an inexpensive option, but with only 10 photos for $980, I think there are better options out there. The experience was only average for us.
3. KPdio
Value for money: 5/5 $1499 for a one-hour shoot; all the edited soft copies provided. They even surprised us with a one-minute video of the photo shoot, which we absolutely adore. Really good value, especially considering a team of three (one photographer, one assistant, and one videographer) came to take care of us.Family-friendly: 5/5 Excellent! Patrick, the photographer was so professional and fun throughout the shoot, and his assistant, Terry, was so good with the kids. They both seemed to be enjoying their work, which made the whole experience fun for us and for our babies too. You can tell from all our smiles! They also were wonderful at taking pictures of the grandparents and the babies.
Aesthetic appeal: 4.5/5 We love how natural these pictures are - not a whole lot of editing, as far as I can tell, but that's part of why we like them. Patrick does an amazing job of just capturing the hugs and smiles as they are. I love how proud of the kids we look in these pictures! Also, Patrick managed to make our very ordinary, run-of-the-mill park look almost magical with his photography skills.
Overall impressions: 4.5/5
We love KPdio so much we've had two photoshoots with them! We first learned about them from a friend, who posted beautiful family photos taken in KPdio's studio. We're not studio-types, remember, so we asked if we could do pictures in our our home and the park downstairs for the first shoot, and in a lovely Chinese-style park in Kowloon City for the second. In fact, we can't wait to book a third shoot with them this fall.
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