You want to capture the special season that is your kids being little but professional photos just seem too hard?
We feel you! Our little girls are busy, adventurous and only 20 months apart. Here's a few tips and tricks we use to survive photoshoots with our own littles.
Snacks and Naps
Every parents knows happy kids are kids that have slept and eaten! I mean I get cranky when I'm tired and hungry too, just ask my husband! The best light for photos is around sunrise and sunset which can often interrupt little ones usual routines. If you know your little one will be up passed bedtime give them an extra long rest time, take an extra long drive or do whatever works for you to help your little one get that bit extra rest. When we are doing a photo session with our kids we always try to get their early and have a snack. Full tummies help kids relax and helps them feel ready for all the fun the session holds!
Dress to not stress
There are so many cute outfits out there for kids and it is super easy to break the bank getting them! However cute photos take more than just cute outfits they need happy kids! Straps that fall down, tassels that distract or are in the way, scratchy materials or anything that kids will want to fiddle with are all worth skipping. Little people can get really cold really fast and it is almost impossible to get cold kids happy and smiling, so it is important to dress them warm enough. The reverse is also true not matter how cute their cardigan or jumper is, a hot and bothered kid is not a happy kid. Let's be real sometimes with a toddler having a happy kid means letting them choose something that is not the option you would have chosen. At the end of the day you will want to hang a photo on your wall because your kids are happy not because of what they are wearing.
Expect them to be kids
What you are seeing of other peoples family photos is very much the highlight reel! Just because another family got a super sweet family portrait of everyone looking at the camera and smiling it does not mean that the kids were angels for the entire session! A family photographer will expect your kids to behave like kids and will have prompts and techniques to help them engage so that they can get the photos you're after. It's also important to know kids will often behave completely differently in front the camera for a photographer than they will for their parents. This is partially because kids will often behave differently for people that aren't their parents and partially because having someone new behind the camera doing new things to get their attention can really help them engage in a new way. And of course you also have to remember that photos capture an instant, your kids do not need to sit still for 40 minutes to get a photo worth hanging on your wall it is actually about 2 seconds! Often it is the unscripted moments that are the sweetest so don't be afraid to let them happen.
The best thing you can do as a parent during a session with young kids is to relax and enjoy the ride, the more relaxed you are the more relaxed your kids will be. Getting photos with young kids can be hard but it doesn't have to be painful and capturing memories with your kids will never be something you regret!
