Not Every Session Goes Perfectly

Going with the flow can be magical too!


Listen, we all see those perfect family portraits people post on their social media nowadays. Everyone wants to show off their perfect families and their seemingly well-behaved kiddos, but what about what you don't see? Nobody tells you about the endless pleading with your kids to stop wrestling with each other, the sugar-filled bribes that await the kids at the end of the session if they cooperate or the exasperation of the parents when it's all said and done and the anxious waiting game starts for your proofs to be delivered. So what's a parent to do if nothing is going according to plan? Let's dive into that, shall we?


First and foremost, as someone with kids of my own, I can assure you that it's 110% ok if a session doesn't go the way you dreamt it would. One of my favorite all time shots was of a kid who just wouldn't calm down and I finally got the mom to just let him do his own thing. He was constantly jumping up just as we got everyone settled, kept running off with the dog and just had way too much energy to be sitting still for more than a few seconds. The mom was clearly losing patience and getting frustrated, but after reassuring her I was getting some really great candid shots she began to calm down and accepted we were done with the posed shots for the day. When it was all said and done she was thrilled with the end results and ended up really liking some of the ones of the boys just goofing off.


As a family photographer, it is paramount that you have a higher level of patience than others because you never know what you will encounter on a session. It is imperative to remain calm, and more important happy, throughout all sessions to help keep your clients at ease as much as possible (especially when you have a particularly unruly child). One of the things that always helps me is just laughing at the situations at hand because life is too short to take everything so seriously. Kids will be kids and they won't always cooperate, but just allowing them to be themselves can allow for some really great moments to unfold that you just can't script or plan.


For all the parents out there that aren't sure if they should book a session or not, I encourage you to do so. Even if they may not produce those perfect smiling portraits that everyone yearns for, you could end up with some hilarious gems you would never have otherwise gotten. Some of those also make for some great blackmail when your kids are older too ;)


As always, I appreciate the time anyone takes to read my blog posts. I hope you pull some helpful information from them and find a new source of confidence to reach out and book!