THE WHYS – MY KIDS ARE INSANE…

“My kids are insane!” and “We are just so awkward!” showed up as reasons for not having family photo sessions a few times!

Kids can be totally nuts and you’d be surprised to know how often I hear “But they’ve been so good… I have no idea what’s going on!” during a shoot where a kid or kids are being particularly unruly, uncooperative or a total sourpuss!

I taught kids ages 4-13 in Korea for 3 years. About 40 kids a year who were tired, frustrated, young and being told what to do by someone who didn’t speak the same language as them! I can handle unruly, uncooperative and sourpusses like a pro! You know the secret? Just accept it! Your family is going to have so many photo opportunities throughout your collective existence that 1 20 minute session of scowls, messy hair, funny faces etc. isn’t going to define you. It IS going to freeze those moments in time though. Life is messy and kids don’t care that mom and dad are paying good money for the photo shoot so you may as well just shrug it off! Or better yet… throw out the script and just have fun! Run around with them, swing them around, let them just be them on that day in whatever year of life they’re in! If you fight them the entire time you’ll all leave feeling defeated and you’ll probably hate the pictures and never want to do them again!

“We are just so awkward!”

I bet you’re not nearly as awkward as you think you are! Most of my sessions involve a lot of interaction between family members, what this means is that there is more attention given to each other than the camera. The more you focus on what your kids are doing or how much you love your partner the less chance you have to focus on me, the girl behind the camera! I don’t expect people to come to a session ready to be featured in Vogue. I just want people to update their family portraits in a way that is going to capture them just being a family! Everyone is awkward when they’re in a stiff pose but it’s up to me to get my clients to relax and to feel comfortable with being the centre of attention. Generally speaking the first 5 images I take are all a bit awkward but as the time moves people visibly relax and suddenly natural laughter, affection and moments replace any stiffness that was there from image one!

So the lesson for both of these Whys?

Just go with the flow! Don’t overthink anything and don’t expect miracles! And remember, pictures of your kids being messy or crying or running around like wild animals are ALWAYS better than no pictures of them being any of those things!