Imagine This
Picture a young mom getting her family ready for a family portrait session. She chose each outfit carefully to ensure they coordinate with each other (check out my blog post on choosing outfits) and loaded her family into the car. The kids, especially her toddler who she is worried about the most, are behaving fairly well in the hour long car ride to the location, but by the time she arrives, junior is starting to misbehave and mom is worried how the photos will turn out now.
This is a common worry and fear for most mothers. Will my kids, especially my toddler, behave during a photo session? When you book me as your photographer for your family portraits, you can be assured that I do my best to make my photo sessions fun and stress-free for everyone. I am well aware of how kids can behave particularly in front of a camera. My husband and I have four kids ourselves who and are in or entering in their teenage years and I they have been my models since they were born. In each session, I aim to capture one or two photos of everyone smiling and looking at the camera. The rest of the session is focused on interaction and having fun.
An Energetic Toddler
Asking a toddler to sit nice and smile will just not work! I know that, you know that-so you may be wondering how am I going to run the session? Before each session, I like to schedule an in-person or via zoom pre-session so I can find out more about the dynamic of your family and it will give us a chance to address any concerns you might have. For instance, if you mention your toddler is full of energy and won’t sit still, then I will know to bring a stool or a chair and a blanket to sit on.
I like to approach a family session in a way that is fun and enjoyable for all family members. Instead of sit together and look at me and smile, I might say something like: Let’s play a game of peek-a-boo. After I do that several times, I get the toddler to hide their eyes and say boo. Bam-toddler smiles and I capture that. Or we’ll sing some songs. I am not by any means a singer, but your toddler doesn’t know that-but he/she might know what do in the song “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands”. After quickly adding mom and dad into the scene, I’ll tell everyone it’s tickle time. Or I might ask your toddler to wiggle his/her toes or look at mom or give mom a kiss. If you have multiple children, we might play a game of Run Under the Blanket, or Ring Around the Rosie, or Patty Cake. Capturing candid moments make for some excellent portraits.
If your toddler is finally relaxing and having fun, I might ask him/her to look at me and I can capture that traditional family portrait. Sometimes I ask kids to look deep into my lens to see if they see themselves, or I will put on a funny hat and sneeze. Basically, I act like a ridiculous person, you may even see me jumping up and down or wear a funny clown nose. I have never had one mom come up to me afterwards and tell me that this was the worst hour ever! Nope, they comment on how much fun they had.
Break Time
If your toddler needs time to just run and play, let’s make sure we let that happen. That will give me a chance to capture some portraits of just mom and dad. When was the last time you had a photo taken of just the two of you? Your wedding perhaps? This will also give me a chance to capture candid photos of your toddler when they aren’t looking! If I can’t get your toddler to come back into the session and I have what I need, that’s fine, we can end the session. I can usually capture a few photos on the way out.
More Tips
Some other things to keep in mind is to help prepare your toddler by making sure he/she is well rested and has had a good snack before the session. You are encouraged to bring plenty of water and other snacks along with you. Also, try not to over schedule the day of your session so your toddler isn’t tired out. When all else fails, with your permission, I like to bribe littles with mini marshmallows :). It is reality that your kids will have a moment of breakdown or be uncooperative. You just have to remember to stay calm.
Email me at michelle@mlphotography.camera to book your next family session!