I recently photographed by son, and I was in shock at how different the session went. I am so used to photographing other children, that I completely how to photograph my own! I found myself thinking back, “what do I do to make kids laugh?” “How do I get such great candid pictures” and you think it would be a complete no-brainer!

I have compiled a list of tips and tricks to get great photos from home!

Top Tips for Getting the Best Pictures out of your Children!

1.First of all, Be Patient. There is no reason to rush your child through pictures. You are living on “their time” any other time of the day, why not give them some time to warm up? Give them sometime to direct the photography!

2.Get involved! The more you interact with your child the better. Sometimes simply rolling the ball back and forth for a while relaxes them. Try playing peekaboo behind a tree.

3.Get them giggling! What usually makes them giggle? Is it playing peekaboo? Is it fake sneezes (Works for me everytime!) Put the camera down and get them giggling first, this relaxes them and makes giggling during pictures a lot easier.

4. Think about the background. Go to a park, a river, downtown. Find some cool scenery! Make sure its not too distracting though!

5.Don’t Practice. Yes, you read that right. I know of so many instances were parents will bring their kids to the studio and say, “we practiced in front of the mirror.” nine times out of ten, that is just teaching a child to smile on que, and you will get the most unnatural cheezy smiles. Instead of saying “say cheese!” say something super funny to get them to laugh, for real!

6. Don’t leave out funny faces! All kids will do a cheezy smile at least once! Catch it! This is a milestone, like any other. When they give you the pouty face, capture it! When they cry, which hopefully they wont do too much of that, capture it!

7. And most of all, have fun! If you show your child that you are having fun, and they are having fun, the chances of them having fun when a photographer takes their picture is a lot more likely!