Advice from a Vancouver Child Photographer

I remember when my two were babes and people would come over and comment on how sweet and quiet and perfect they were. Are they nuts? My babes cried non-stop (well, maybe they didn’t, but it felt like it) and they never ever slept when we didn’t have company (well, maybe they did, but it didn’t feel like that at 2AM).

So I know how it feels to look at beautiful family photographs of other people’s smiling children and doubt that yours will do the same.

 

Vancouver Child Photographer

Your littles don’t need to be perfectly well-behaved and well-mannered throughout the session. In fact, it’s better if they’re not. I had so much fun with all the littles seen in this post and they’re some of my favourite littles to photograph.

Part of the reason for a planning session in your home is to give me a chance to meet your littles before the big day. It puts them at ease to meet me on their own turf, where they’re comfortable. It also gives me a chance to get a feel for their personalities. If they’re loud and jumping all over and grabbing my hand to drag me off to show me every toy in their room I’ll approach photo day differently than I would if they clung to you most of the time, shyly peeking out from behind your leg.

Your photo session won’t be the same as the family’s before you. That’s one of the biggest differences between a custom portrait session and a 30 minute session at the mall studio.

If your littles are silly, I’ll make animal noises with the best of them. If your littles are shy, I’ll quietly hum their favourite song and pick buttercups until they’re dying to come over and investigate. If your littles are wild and ‘naughty’, I can outrace them and scare the neighbours with my screaming contests. As a Vancouver child photographer for more than 7 years I have a lot of tricks in my back pocket.

Isn’t the one of them belly-laughing with sparkling eyes after they’ve just won a screaming contest with me the one you’re going to love best anyway?

In fact, let them be naughty, just for one night. You relax and don’t worry about whether they’re doing the right thing or should be sitting and smiling at the camera.

The more personality they show during the session, the better your images will be.

Yes, they might just be a tad wound up when you get them in the car afterwards but isn’t that worth it for the amazing photos you’re going to get? And since we’re shooting at sunset they’ll probably tire themselves out pretty quickly anyways.

I don’t put a time limit on your session. I’m good for as long as your littles are.

Sometimes they are just having an off day. Thank goodness for mamas, especially mamas who have just had their hair & make-up done by a professional hair & make-up artist. Sad babes are perfect for cuddling. So we’ll cuddle and cuddle and cuddle some more. And you’ll have some amazing images of you with your little.

And when the tears are done, I’ll be ready to catch their beautiful smile.

P.S. We have 2 more Saturday sessions left before summer arrives. Want to make one of them yours? Call the studio today to see if one of those dates will work for you.