Birthday Photography in Magarpatta City, Pune

Other people's children

A children's party is full of children who are not yours.

Their parents have their own views about photographs, and where those parents are also your neighbours, the question is not abstract.

Most are perfectly relaxed about it. A few are not, and they are usually reluctant to say so at a party they have been invited to.

The practical answer is to mention it on the invitation, which sounds formal and takes one line: a photographer will be there, tell us if you would rather your child was not photographed.

That single line settles the question for everybody and it removes an awkwardness that otherwise sits unspoken through the afternoon.

Where somebody does say so, it is entirely workable. We photograph around a child rather than excluding them from the party.

And nothing from the party is used publicly by us without being asked, which is worth knowing before anybody asks you.

The line on the invitation is worth writing carefully, because the tone decides whether anybody uses it.

Phrased as a formality it gets ignored. Phrased as a genuine offer, a parent who would rather not will actually say so.

Something like: we will have a photographer, do let us know if you would rather your child was not photographed. Short and clearly meant.

It is also worth remembering that a child who should not be photographed is not excluded from the party in any way.

They play, they eat cake and they are part of the afternoon. They simply do not appear in the frames, which is easy to manage and nobody else notices.

Parents who ask are usually braced for it to be awkward, and it is not.