free range kids



Corker Kiwi Kids Needed
  We are looking for beautiful children to feature in our book "Free Range Kids of New Zealand".   The Free Range Kids Book is a gallery of visual poetry portraying the innocence of childhood in New Zealand.  It is about the muddy play, the stone skimming, the blueberry picking, the tidal pool exploration, twirls, and lolly scrambles.  Rolly poly's, icecream covered faces, blankies, dolls, cannon balls into a swimming hole.  It is about the magic of New Zealand and what it means to be able to be a Kiwi kid growing up in the ultimate playground in the world. 
As an AmeriKiwi (came as an adult and raised my son here), I found that there was a whole new language that I needed to learn to understand the life of kids here and this book is a very wimsical poetic dictionary explaining some of the uniquely kiwi terms that surround children in NZ (Rattle your dags, togs, hard case, jandel, lolly scramble,  L&P, you get the idea)

There are spaces for 100 children to be photographed. The best images from the book will be selected to produce a  Free Range Kids Exhibit, and limited edition print run.  Do you want your child to be one?


What do I get for participating?

  • Your child will feature in the limited edition hard back copy of Free Range Kids NZ 2012.
  • $290.00 value photo shoot with Master Photographer Mandi Lynn
  • A 5x7 print of the image selected to be in the book ($290.00)
  • A chance for your child's image to be selected for the Free Range Kids Print Exhibit



What will it cost me?
  • $49.00 to secure your space, nothing else to pay unless you want to buy extra prints or purchase one of the hard cover books.
  • You will be given a viewing of best images from your child's shoot and are able to purchase further art for your home ...but there is no pressure to do so...just the opportunity.


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How much will the book cost?
We estimate that the signed hard back first edition prints will cost about $145.00.  But we will not know until we are done with the book.  We anticipate that it will be available in November of 2012.  The $49.00 does not buy you one of the books, but buys you $580.00 worth of prints and services, and inclusion in the book.  It is a pretty good deal really, we reckon.


The Process:
Once you register your child, someone from A'La Mode's multi award winning studio will contact you with a date and time for your preconsultation.  Other siblings and parents and grandparents can be included in the photo session but if you have other children which you wish to have featured in the book you will need to pay a further $49.00 for their image to be included. Please be aware that this is an artistic book and the image selected by Mandi may only feature a portion of your child's body, not necessarily the whole child or even their face.  Pages may include several children from different families as the layout and poetry of the book demands.  However, the photo session is a complete lifestyle portrait session and there will be many images that are breathtakingly beautiful that may not make the book.  We will do a complete family lifestyle portrait session if you desire.  You are welcome to purchase these during your viewing of the images as art for your own home or gifts for your family.  Our prints start at $290.00 for 7x10inch (18x25cm) size prints but go down individually in price with our packages.

The preconsultation:
Once you have confirmed your desire to be in the book,  you will meet with someone from our A'La Mode team for a pre-consultation. It is here we get to know you and figure out what to focus on in your family portraits.  We find out what makes your children unique and this is what we will highlight and focus on for their inclusion in the book.  We will also choose the location for the shoot.  Weekends are booked up months in advance for A La Mode, so if you are able arrange your families schedule to be photographed during the week, you will find that you get your session completed sooner rather than later.   Here you will let us know if you just want your child to be featured in the book or if you would like to take the opportunity to use the shoot as a family portrait session.

The shoot 

Our multi award winning photographic team at A La Mode photographs all over the Wellington, Wairarapa, and Kapiti coast.  Together we will decide the best place for your shoot.


What to wear:
Please bring several changes of clothes to the session. One outfit should be clothing that your child normally is found playing in, but please only bring solid coloured clothing and nothing with cartoon characters etc.  If you have girls, please bring something a bit more flowy and twirly.  Bring anything that is sentimental for your child...a special blanket, doll, or toy, fairy wings.   At the Blueberry , we have a whole closet full of dress-ups and props brought over from America, and collected from around New Zealand.


The viewing:
If you are interested in seeing the best of the images captured, as well as seeing which one was chosen for the book, then you will be booked in for a viewing about 1-3 weeks after your shoot. The viewing will take place at 109 Jackson Street Petone.  Viewings take approximately 1 hour for most families.  Just a heads up...The majority of families that bring small children to these viewings wish they didn't.  We love seeing the kids again, but most parents find it hard to focus if they are also distracting a 2 year old.   It is up to you if you want to find a sitter or bring the kids, but we just thought we would pass on that bit of advice from other families.  At the viewing, we will tell you the image that will most likely be used in the book.  However, this could change as the book editing process commences.

Printing:
The signed images for the book will be distributed in November when all of the artwork is completed. However, if your purchase other images or framed prints from the shoot, you can expect these 4-6 weeks following their selection and payment.

So if you got this far and are interested, here is the last opportunity to sign your gorgeous little one up for this amazing opportunity.





Free Range Kids Booking Fee

Some of the images shot so far for the book: