Lessons

Meet little Miss C. from my session last Saturday. Isn't she adorable? I had so much fun photographing this little beauty! Towards the end of our session, Miss C got a little tired, which was totally understandable since most children this age don't last much longer than an hour. At one point, her mom (who was very laid back and good humored about it all) made the comment "This is a little stressful!" I have gotten this comment quite often from parents, or at least gotten a stressful vibe from them when their kids are not cooperating, and as a parent I can completely relate to this! But in my years of photographing children there are a few lessons I have learned. The first is that there seems to be some unwritten, universal law that states that children are LEAST cooperative in situations where you really want them to cooperate, such as airplane rides and portrait sessions. To be honest, when I first began photographing kids professionally this fact stressed me out quite a bit and I would often come home worried and frustrated that my ideas didn't go as planned. However, after photographing dozens of children, I have yet to be disappointed by the results of my sessions. Is that because I am just a great photographer? Hopefully that is a tiny part of it (I flatter myself!) But I think more than likely it is the fact that children are most adorable when they are being themselves, tears and all! I have learned that oftentimes a child's idea of a great portrait is better than mine. In fact, most of my very favorite portraits that I've taken are the result of something the child did that was not staged or directed by me. So now when I go into a session, my approach is much more laid back and I know that even if my ideas didn't go as planned, I will end up with great images that are unique to that child's personality. And in the end, that is ALWAYS the most important thing to me! And hopefully knowing that will put the parents' minds at ease, too!

Enjoy the sneak peek, mom and dad!