You’ve had your family session booked for weeks, maybe months, and now the day is here. Once you arrive, you wipe errant crumbs from your kids’ faces and quietly pat yourself on the back for how well you’ve coordinated everyone’s outfits. You’re downright tickled by how the bow in your daughter’s hair frames her face and how your son’s button down shirt instantly makes him look like a dapper little gentleman. All the preparation is done, and now it’s go time!
And then… your son bursts into tears because he wants his green elephant toy, but green elephant toy is at home. Your daughter keeps wriggling away from your arms and running in different directions. Once you wrangle her back, both kids keep making silly faces at each other. You tell them to knock it off, to pretty please just behave, and now they’re scowling. Then your daughter rips her bow from her hair while your son starts scuffing his shoes into the grass. You remind your kids of the cookies waiting in the car in exchange for their cooperation, but your bribe isn’t working the magic you hoped it would. This isn’t going how you planned, and you start wondering if maybe this is going to be a bust.
But I’m going to stop you right there and let you in on a little secret: an entire gallery of images comes from just a handful of seconds during our time together. In fact, I only need 1/400th of a second here, another fraction of a second there, and a few moments in between to get my shots. Kids are going to be kids, and I have no expectations that they will fully cooperate for the entirety of our session. It’s my job to do what is in my power to keep the momentum of the session moving toward getting your desired images, and sometimes we’ll take a few detours getting there. In between the silly faces and mini meltdowns are quick smiles and tender family moments – I’m ready to catch those when they happen. Think of everything else during our time together like an outtake reel for a movie. There are some hilarious gems in there, and I promise to slip a few into your gallery.