Picture Time and time to let it go!
Are you totally excited?
Or absolutely terrified!
My best piece of advice?
Let it go.
I encourage you to share your visions and any inspirations, but seriously…just go with it. You’ve picked the best photographer you can find, gotten your crew perfectly dressed and spit shined, and now it’s time to trust the pro. We can try special poses you have in mind, but you and I both know who decides which poses we’ll get away with. Focus on what gets those giggles to rise to the surface and just laugh at the mess you’ve created.
Don’t even try to discipline your kids unless there is a safety issue.
Just let it go this time.
Oh and don’t worry…YES, I know all of the words to “Let It Go” and boy oh boy did that come in handy for this session! Miss Maggie torturing her mama above? Yeah, she wanted nothing to do with ANYONE. It was her way or the highway. Once we transformed that cutie into Elsa, it was game on.
Cute, cute, cute!
We all want to make our kids behave and smile,
but I’m asking you to just let go of that control. I’ve got this!
Trust me. I know what it feels like, Mommy and Daddy. I understand the urge to control your kiddos. And I know how much you want those smiles for your photos! I remember the exact moment that I figured out the secret to those photos even with the crabbiest of kids. I was taking pictures of my own kids on a snowy, Kansas afternoon. The snow was gorgeous and I really just wanted one great picture of my kids cheesing at the camera! They wanted nothing more than to go inside and partake in the hot chocolate I promised. I kept using that positive reinforcement as motivation and it was SPENT.
So, what’s my secret?
There was absolutely no way I was going to force a smile out of my kids. In a moment of defeat, I asked, “what do you want? For me to smack myself on the head?”
I remember the glimmer in my son’s eye. Fine! And so I did. HE LAUGHED AND LAUGHED AND LAUGHED. And I got amazing pictures!
Of course, it was the ones of him doubled over cracking up that were my favorites rather than the couple pictures I got of him actually laughing toward the camera.
Sure, I’ll pretend to hurt myself for some giggles, but what I learned in that moment was the importance of making the experience fun. That and focusing on those truly genuine moments of joy rather than being determined to capture what amounts to least fake smile they can produce on command.
Now, smile your way through the rest of this awesome family session!
