Parents are actively involved in Photobaby Sessions whether it be a newborn baby session or a family session with children.
As a parent, you know what makes your child laugh, giggle or concentrate so your suggestions will be most welcome during a session. It could be a favourite song to sing, a squeaky toy, some dance moves, or daddy acting silly – whatever it may be, be prepared to ‘be a kid’ again to help yours smile.
I have many tricks to help make children laugh to get natural photos, rather than the staged ‘sit there and say cheese’ type shot. You can’t ever force a child to act happy as you can tell in a photo it’s not natural, but you can guide them into smiles by distracting them such as giving them something to do or say which will hopefully lead to a smile. If I’ve exhausted all my ideas (and I have many) to make your child smile and they are still not smiling, then for whatever reason on this particular day they either maybe don't want to, they may be unwell or they may just not be the smiley type. Whilst I say this, this situation does not often happen at all - maybe once in all the years I've been photographing children. Usually children just need to 'warm up' to me and their new surroundings and then they have a fabulous time.
Kids will show you true feelings no matter what. So a baby crying and being comforted is a natural moment and will be cherished for years and should not be discounted on the grounds that the baby wasn’t happy or ‘perfect’. A toddler who stamps his feet in protest can be representative of a stage he’s in and mum wants to remember their determined little face. A toddler who is shy hiding behind dad’s legs is super sweet or a big sister who was teary as she wanted more cuddle time with mum all make for touching photographs. These are memories as well as the happy bright faces that we all want in our collection.
So if you have well fed baby (bring expressed breast milk as it's quicker to settle them if you can) or child (please bring non-messy snacks to keep them at their best), and they are well (avoid booking when your child has just had vaccinations or has been circumsized within 5 days of your session) then look forward to enjoying your session with me! I promise to capture beautiful images for you to treasure. ♥
