Navigating Shoots with Kids
As a mom myself, I know that family portraits can sometimes feel stressful and daunting! It's easy to have an image in your head of the perfect photoshoot with perfect smiles and the perfect outfits...the list goes on. While those shoots are GREAT, it's not often the reality with little ones. However, it's out of that "chaos" that I am able to truly capture your family at that moment in time. So with that, I want to share a little story about a shoot with my good friend Julie and her 2.5 year old daughter, Isla.
I met Julie almost a decade ago when I was working at a small coffee shop in Ventura County. We were both childless, attending the same college and both of us were majoring in Art at the time! (Side note - Julie is an INCREDIBLY talented painter). I moved a couple of hours away but Julie and I have kept in contact after all of these years. Fast forward to today, and now we're both navigating motherhood and pursuing our artistic dreams.
After so much rain (by California standards), the day we met for the shoot was absolutely gorgeous. This was my first time meeting Isla and like a typical 2 year old she was slightly weary of me and a little shy. We walked over to the location we were going to shoot at and got started. I usually like to start my shoots with some traditional poses and then we'll move into more soft-posed, candid moments. Isla was starting to warm up but was now in the "act silly around a stranger" stage. At this point, I knew it was time to pause the "stand there and say cheese" poses and let her get some energy out and get comfortable with me taking their picture. I told Julie to take Isla and just walk around with her like she would if I wasn't there. I told her to imagine she was taking Isla on a nature walk and show her things in our surroundings. And out of these truly candid moments, we captured some beautiful photos that truly showed their bond to one another.
To me, posed pictures are so nice to have but these images that capture this moment in time, showing what your life was really like with your kids are so much more special. But all that to say, sometimes you might leave a shoot feeling defeated, like your kids didn't behave like you wanted them too, and you're thinking your pictures will be awful, only to be surprised by the beautiful moments otherwise left uncaptured. These are the
