Everytime I get home from a portrait session I tell Coty I need to bring candy. I’m not a huge fan of bribing but for some reason I totally support it when it comes to pictures. If you’re not a professional photographer then you can’t be getting your picture taken every day. Molly, gets her picture taken almost every day. She’s going to be so sick of it by the time she’s 16, maybe 5 but I don’t care! 🙂 Anyways, you work so hard to finally find time to get a photo schedule, find the perfect outfits and then you get to the park (which is totally recomended and I’ll explain later) and BOOM… the child you love and adore is NOT happy. How many of you are victims to your child not acting themself the moment the camera gets in front of them? I canNOT begin to tell you how many times this happens. So I wanted to give some tips. I’m in no way an expert on this, in fact my tips may not even help but if they do, well I’m glad!

Tip #1 expect the unexpected.
So I wanted to show you one of my favorite clients, Miss Sullivan! This is a photo from her first shoot with me, 8 months ago!

Happy girl isn’t she? She was absolutely adorable and I loved every second of taking photos of her. She lasted longer then any baby should, I was amazed and taking full advantage since I knew she’d end up on my website she’s so cute.

Now here is she is this weekend, 8 months later.

I will admit, I love this photo. Baby doll in hand, Momma singing her a song and Sullivan not happy. Being the type of photographer I am, I want the candids. I want to capture the attitude, character and who your child really is. If your child doesn’t like to look at the camera, then thats them! I’ll admit I’d like ONE photo where they look at him yes, but sometimes thats just not them. So we took Sullivan inside the barn because we thought maybe she was cold. We also gave her a snack, some strawberries and blueberries and then all of a sudden, there was the Sullivan I remembered! It wasn’t just me who was puzzled by this once very photogenic girl, so were her parents! Once the berries came out, so did our happy little photogenic baby.
Tip #2 comes in… FULL bellies make HAPPY babies!
Now to defend Sullivan’s parents, they tried to feed her. The whole way to the park they tried and she didn’t want anything to do with it. I’ve only had a child for 4 months and she’s changing her “schedule” on me every day so I can imagine. It is however important to schedule your childs portrait at a time when they are the most happy and the most full. I don’t know about you but when I’m hungry, I’m not too pleasant to be around. I still can remember Coty and I’s engagement session and he was hungry the entire time so he was a tad bit grumpy in between photos. I’ve taught him to put a smile on his face no matter what 🙂 so our pictures look great but I can still hear him saying, “we are so getting cici’s pizza after this” or “I’m starving, are we almost done?” haha. So feed the child before and bring snacks just in case a goldfish or two is going to put a smile on their face.

Tip#3 Keep a smile on your face and I’ll do the rest!

Oh this is my favorite tip! I won’t say I get completely annoyed when this happens but it happens a lot so if by December when I’ve done A LOT of portrait sessions, and you do this, I may get annoyed. So this is what happens, I’ve got Mom on the left, Dad on the right and the 2 year old in the middle and he FINALLY breaks a smile guess who ISN’T smiling?! Mom, or Dad! So this tip is more like an instruction or strong suggestion, keep smiling and I’ll do the rest to get your child looking at the camera!

Tip#4 Schedule the session at a park

I love shooting in our studio, its a great spot and I get some great photos. Ask anyone though, I’ll end up going outside my studio doors and love the photos I get. When you let a kid loose at a park, you never know what you’re gonna get. I love catching a kid in their element, usually a park is their scene. I love seeing them run around, and feeling like they’re “free”! Sometimes the parents ask if they need to do anything and I say no, let them do whatever they want. I love that I’m not stuck in a studio with stupid props and I’m able to just really capture the essence of a child. 

Tip#5 Have fun!
I can’t stress this enough. Don’t stress yourself out with all the planning, just have fun.