How I make it fun!
It’s stressful, having kids. It doesn’t matter what age they are, their behaviour is a total surprise and can make or break your self-worth in a split second…
Take my 8-year-old for example. One day I’ll get “Rohan is such a beautiful boy! He helped the younger kids on the playground and used perfect manners!”. The next I’ll receive a phone call from the office saying “Rohan has been banned from playing sport this week for tackling his friend to the ground then telling him to fuck off”. Exhausting, I know! So how are they going to behave for a stranger, in front of a camera, at witching hour? (You know, that hour before bed when they go proper crazy? An hour or so before sun down? When the light is beautiful and golden and flattering and perfect for portraits….. yeah, golden hour for photographers, witching hour for parents. That hour.)
I’ll let you in on a little secret… You have more control than you think! But, that control comes from letting go! Embrace the chaos - It’s the reality and beauty of it all!
While you focus on “letting go”, these are the things I’ll do to make the session fun for all!
I’ll talk. A lot. But first I’ll let you know to relax, be yourself, let the kids be kids, and to just love on each other. After all, that’s what we’re here to capture!
I’ll direct, I won’t pose. What’s the difference? I’ll guide you to a spot with beautiful light, I’ll put you all together, give you a prompt like “tell the kids a story about when you were their age” or “everyone squish mum!” then I’ll step back and capture the magic!
Stemming from the last point - I’ll make it a game. Kids don’t like standing still, so I’ll tell them to “come stand with me then run and hug Mum and Dad!” or I’ll draw a line in the sand and tell them to “go nuts, just don’t cross the line or the crocodiles will get ya!”
I will show the kids their photo on the back of my camera! Seriously, they love themselves!
You will get breaks. “Mum and Dad, you’re up - alone! Now, you two go relax while I chase these kids for a bit!”
I won’t use food bribes, only activity based bribes for during the session. We usually don’t want biscuit crumbs all over their face or a lollipop hanging out of their mouth for a photo and we definitely do not want a melt down when they have to wait until after the session for these things! “We’re going to have nice, calm cuddles with your baby brother and then we can go climb that log, what do you think?”
And that is how I make my sessions fun! But guess what? I still get nervous about my own child’s behaviour for our family photos so if you’ve thought about booking and still have questions or concerns, I would love to hear from you!
Tahlia x