Child-care Photographers : Stop Wasting Time Fixing Colour

Woman in glasses holds a color chart with various colored squares. She's smiling and wearing a red shirt, with a blurred indoor background.

How Child-Care Photographers Can Streamline Their Workflow with the Spyder Checkr24

As a child-care photographer, you’re likely working under rapidly changing lighting conditions — photographing children in full sun one minute, then under green trees, coloured shade sails, or cloudy skies the next.

If you’re relying on Auto White Balance (AWB), your camera is constantly guessing how to balance colour in each frame. And while AWB might do “okay” in some situations, it doesn’t guarantee consistency — especially when it comes to skin tones, which are the most crucial and noticeable aspect of portrait work.

The result? Hours spent in Lightroom, trying to match colours between sessions, smooth out uneven skin tones, or undo colour casts from the environment. It’s not just frustrating — it’s costing you time, energy, and ultimately, profit.

The Problem: Inconsistent Colour = Inefficient Workflow

Let’s be real. The more time you spend adjusting white balance, correcting skin tones, and trying to make 200+ images look cohesive, the less time you have for:

Culling and editing quickly
Delivering galleries faster
Booking more sessions
Actually enjoying your work

If each session adds 30–60 minutes of colour correction, and you’re shooting multiple children a day, those hours add up — fast.

The Solution: Add a Simple, Repeatable Step with the Spyder Checkr24

Here’s how you can take control of your colour — and your time — with a tool designed to simplify everything: the Datacolor Spyder Checkr24.

By building this one repeatable step into your shooting workflow, you’ll save hours in post-production and deliver consistently professional results.

Your New, Time-Saving Workflow

Here’s what a streamlined workflow looks like:

1. Take One Extra Frame Per Lighting Setup

Before you start photographing each child, simply capture one frame with the Spyder Checkr24 chart in the scene, under the same lighting conditions the portraits will be taken in.

That’s it — no need to stop mid-session or interrupt the flow.

This step gives you a reference image that captures how that environment is affecting colours.

2. Import and Correct in Lightroom

Once in Lightroom, follow these simple steps:

Locate the reference image with the Checkr24
Use the White Balance Eyedropper Tool in the Develop module and click a neutral grey patch on the chart — this sets a correct white balance instantly
Optional but powerful: Use Datacolor software to generate a custom ICC profile from the same image and apply it in Lightroom to correct a wider range of colours (not just white balance)

3. Sync Across the Set

Select all images from that session or lighting scenario, click Sync, and apply the white balance and colour settings in one click. You’ve just corrected the entire shoot in seconds.

4. Repeat When Lighting Changes

If your next child is under a different light source (e.g., moving from shade to sun), take another frame with the Spyder Checkr24 before photographing them, and repeat the process.

Real-World Impact: More Time, Less Stress, Higher Profit

This one small step — photographing a Checkr24 chart before each subject or lighting change — can cut 30+ minutes of editing per session. Multiply that across a week, and you're saving several hours.

Those hours can be spent:

Booking more clients
Delivering images faster
Resting or marketing your business
Shooting with confidence knowing colour will be right later

You’re no longer “fixing” your images — you’re working from a trusted reference, using a consistent method that brings predictability and speed into your editing workflow.

Final Thoughts: Build Better Habits, Run a Smarter Business

When you treat colour consistency as part of your shooting process — not just something to deal with later — you turn your photography business into a more efficient, more scalable operation.

The Spyder Checkr24 isn’t just a colour tool — it’s a business tool. By reducing editing time, ensuring natural skin tones, and eliminating colour-guessing stress, you’re free to focus on what matters most: creating joyful, high-quality portraits that parents will love.

Pro Tip: Label your colour reference images clearly in Lightroom (e.g. “WB – Liam under green tree”) so you can find them quickly and sync edits without confusion.

The Problem: Inconsistent Colour = Inefficient Workflow

The Solution: Add a Simple, Repeatable Step with the Spyder Checkr24

Your New, Time-Saving Workflow

Real-World Impact: More Time, Less Stress, Higher Profit

Final Thoughts: Build Better Habits, Run a Smarter Business

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