Is photographing your kiddos a constant battle where you are begging them to sit still and smile, while they groan about how boring the whole process is? If this is you, don’t worry you are not alone. I know because this is exactly how it was for me when I would try to photograph my kids for Christmas cards or just a fun day at the park! It can be so frustrating when your kids are being so cute but the second you pull out the camera, they start to misbehave and give you those stinker faces!! But, don’t despair momma there is hope for you!
There are three mistakes that can cause pretty much every photo session with your kids to turn into a nightmare. And, what’s even worse is that most parents have NO IDEA that they are doing these things every single time they photograph their kids. This makes it almost impossible for you to get a cute shot of your kids for the grandparents or your Facebook page and it leaves you more frustrated than ever. As soon as I stopped doing these three things, I found that I was getting images of my girls that I genuinely LOVED and picture time had stopped becoming a battle. Instead, it was now a fun bonding experience. So let’s dig in and make sure that you are not doing these three things!
Do not tell your child to sit still and pose
Kids have so much energy, this is almost impossible for them to do. So by telling them to sit still, we are setting them up for failure from the very beginning. We are also turning picture time into a boring time for them and this will make them much less likely to cooperate with our wishes.
Never, ever tell your little one to smile or say cheese
For some reason the moment we let our kids know what we want them to do, they decide to do the exact opposite. Just like when you tell them not to touch anything in the store. Doing the wrong thing becomes too tempting. When you tell your kids to smile, one of two things usually happens. First, they don’t know how to genuinely smile on command, so they give you a nervous, tense grimace. Or, they just decide to give you the craziest face imaginable and while it may be funny it’s not the look you are wanting on your Christmas cards this year!
Stop trying to get the “perfect shot”
It’s great to have a vision, but when you have one perfect shot in your head. Chances are your kids will do everything except what you want them to do. You’re setting yourself up for frustration and once you become frustrated you kids will sense it. The pictures will no longer be fun for them and they will be less likely with each passing minute to cooperate with you.
Do you find that you are doing those things? Congratulations! You are normal and there is no reason to feel bad. Like I said, I was doing these very things years ago! Luckily, I figured out what not to do and started learning the right way to photograph my kiddos! Now that you know what not to do, maybe you are wondering how in the heck are you ever going to get a good picture of your kids?
Well, I believe that every mom should be able to take candid images of her kiddos that she adores, so I want to share my knowledge with you! Click this link to get my free guide that gives you my top three tips for capturing fun and authentic moments with your children. You’re going to learn my number one secret that I use in every session to get kiddos actually excited about their photo session! If you’re ready for all this awesomeness, click here and let me know your email, so I can send it over to you!
