Worried your child won't smile for the camera?
When booking a session a lot of parents say to me "I hope my children listen to you", "What if they don't look at the camera" or "You'll have a hard time getting them to smile"
I'm here to tell you that does not matter at all... Why you ask? I want to capture your little one as exactly who they are that day, at that age, doing what they love to do! So if its fossicking for shells & rocks on the beach, feeling the ocean through her fingers, holding their older sisters hands just for a little while these are the moments I want capture the true moments. If they want to smile at me I want them to because they wanted to, not because I told them to. If they want to run up to my camera & give me the biggest smile like my camera is their best friend then I'm all for it! If they choose to run around or away from the camera that's ok too! We can play games, we can run with them or I can just follow them & capture those candid moments of them exploring. I know parents just like myself set expectations that on a photo session we all must look at the camera to get a good photo & yes if we can capture that let's do it! But if we can't which 90% of the time when photographing multiple little humans at least one won't be looking at the camera, that's ok too let's play tickle monster, or get them to run around you playing chasey, run away from you or towards me, whatever gets a real smile or laugh these are the moments you want to capture & treasure forever! Their personalities & if you as the parents remain calm & relaxed throughout the session so will your children, so as much as you feel you need to get that specific image which will try to get, we may end up with a completely different image which is most of the time is better than the one you had in mind on the photo you saw on pinterest... why? because its real! Those images on pinterest most of often are very posed images with children who may be used to the camera, different ages to your children or took more than a few takes to get perfect. Trust that I can stand back & follow you as a family & capture those real moments the in between poses moments or lets do a session no poses at all if you dare, I have two of my own cheeky monkey's & I've worked in child care so I totally get kids & I'm here to tell you let them be kids & we will create their story, the story of your family :)
So next time your out on a family session take a step back from from feeling the kids have to do certain things because that's what you think the photographer wants or needs. I'm not that kind of photographer & if we need extra time than what your booked for to make sure we get that shot of your little ones I'm happy to stick around, let them warm up to me & the camera its a big black square in their face it may take 30 minutes. Let me take a small walk with them sometimes mum & dad being right there can make them more shy, we won't go far you will still see us but this can really help to get them to open up. Once a child has done a session with a photographer usually they start to build a trust with that person so the next time it gets even easier!
All of this makes for a much more stress free session not only for the kids but us too & then we can have a great adventure where I get to take photos of all the fun!
Every family session is different & no two sessions have to look exactly the same & if that means following the lead of your little one's that's what we will do, I'm all about the natural moment driven stories of your family! xx
