First Communion Photography

First Communion is one of the most important moments of Catholic personal and family life. Photos of this special moment get passed down the generations. At a recent First Communion Workshop for my youngest, I offered up a few suggestions on photography for the big day. Since this is my sixth child, and I’ve grown a bit as a photographer since the first child I thought I might as well make it a special blog post.

First keep photos recording the day special, and incidental to the spiritual preparation for First Communion. It is easier than one thinks. For me it can be going extra early with my child to church, or taking a special trip to church before or after First Communion all dressed up once again to remind the child this sacrament is the foundation of their weekly spiritual nourishment. For girls, if you do this on a weekday before the big day, you have time to make sure the hair, dress, shoes and vail all fit and look proper. For boys, I think it is a bit easier but doing this before First Communion becomes a very good opportunity to teach the boys how to stand like a young man with folded and humble hands with laser focus on the sacrament. Dads, if you model it and demand it, they will become reverent…and keep you on your toes to!

So in the theme of keeping it simple i like to get photos I can repeat as a pattern for all the children in the family. It may not be the same church! But the pattern will be the same, and look good on the wall as a themed family focus area! I had First Communions in three different churches over sixteen years and it panned out. Most of these photos were and can done on simple, advanced and cell phone cameras.

In these first three I was able to work different types of poses with the altar and tabernacle in the background. Different churches, different times and situations but all usable for family memories.

In these photos I used a lot of natural life, and some fill flash in a couple cases, but photographed the communicant near something they will remember many years from now at that church! I also made sure the focus of the object would be something they could later pin on. In my family’s case Mary and the Holy Family are the bedrocks of our homelife. We are concecrated to the Holy Family…so those photos will resonate more as our children grow up. They will see their patrons are with them always!

Details matter. So take a photo of the veil, hands, ties or other items of interest to the child and you! You chose the cross, to fold hands or the sacramental for a reason. The photo will take you back to this moment and the why when you look at it ten, twenty years from now!

Get the family photo. Just remember to put the cell phone or camera in fill flash mode. Set up the family in a series of triangles like this you can build on. Bring in the little ones who will only have a short attention span last. So normal family portraits working quickly amid a big crowd after the First Communion is often very hard. So plan on the next morning, after your Sunday mass when you can all wear your special clothes one more time and the time is relaxing.

If you have time to prepare with your child, enjoy a moment with the blessed sacrament in adoration. Children really want to be close to Jesus after the year or two of preparation. So give them that moment, and from behind them record it. Again be mindful of your surroundings. Note in one photo the kneeler was specifically in front of the Latin words “EGO SUM PANIS VITAE”…or “I am the bread of life”. It is why you are there! Sacramentals are wonderful objects to use in photos!

Finally respect the parish rules on photography. At our church we have no photography during mass. If you are a professional hired to record the moments I suggest long lenses, long shots, and no flash. Use electronic shutter if possible as well for total silence. Cover the mass from far away, and if you are covering the first communion same thing. Use a long lens, stay on a quick burst in , get off to the side opposite the Priests dominate hand. This way you have the best chance of catching the moment with no one noticing.

So there you have it! A quick an concise guide to Capturing His Glory in your child and family life. These memories are what will help you in rough times…and bring you back to what is Beautiful and True!

-ehw