Photographing kids is something I swore I wouldn’t get back into. What a great way to start a blog post about a kids session, Jen! No, but really, it’s something I have stayed away from. Not because I don’t like children – I do! Otherwise I wouldn’t survive my two little firecrackers at home 🙂 No, the main reason I decided in 2012 to specialize in senior portraits and wedding photography is because it was what I truly loved and felt called to. I wanted to provide an unmatched unique experience and amazingly beautiful photographs, and to me it seemed like there were tons of people in the area offering family and kids portraits, there really wasn’t a need for me to do those kinds of sessions.
I still mostly feel this way. Every time I look on local Facebook swap and for sale groups, people are asking for someone to take their child’s annual photo or for family shoots, and then there is the resulting list of 20+ names of photographers (some more legitimately professional than others) that gets passed around. The competition in this category is pretty fierce, especially since there are so many people who have a DSLR and therefore, that automatically makes them a photographer. Honestly, I’m totally fine with that. I used to dislike the trend of everyone claiming to be a photographer and offering photoshoots for dirt cheap. But I’ve moved past it, and I’ve realized that there are indeed some families that want a unique family or children’s portrait experience that is just one step above. That’s special, customized, and fun. They want me to get to know their children and capture this stage in their lives and create lasting portraits that will stand the test of time. And this has brought me back to doing children’s and family portraits. Well, and also all of my friends and current wedding and senior clients keep pestering me and begging me to do it, so I figure, why not? 🙂
However, in order to really jump back into offering children and family sessions, I felt like I needed to brush up my portfolio a bit. After all, it’s been 4 years since I’ve really done a custom children’s session.
I asked a few friends, and my lovely friend Lisha was game to let me photograph her 4 year old twins. She warned me ahead of time it may be rough, but I was prepared! Lol! We chatted for a few days leading up to their session, and planned a fun little camping themed photoshoot. And it was so much fun! I hope you enjoy this cute duo as much as I did.
First, meet Charlie. He’s a total goofball sometimes and made me work for it, but I loved every minute of it.
And this is miss Hadley. She’s sweet as can be, but has a little spice to her too 🙂
Let’s go explore
Going on a bear hunt….i.e. mommy is playing hide and seek. 🙂
We found her
See what I mean? So silly!
But charming too.
I loved just playing around with them.
This might be one of my favorites 🙂
When you have twins, it’s always great to have photos of the two together, but I always want to get some of each twin by themselves too 🙂
I love this series!
Ha!
A little star gazing.
I just think these next few photos are the epitome of what it is to be 4 – silly and sweet!
Off to the bridge we go!
And with the last little bits of light…
While I was SO nervous going into this session, it ended up being incredibly fun and refreshing! And I can’t wait to do more 🙂 So if you’ve been waiting to do a fun family or kids lifestyle portrait session (a lifestyle session is catered more towards a theme or activity like this shoot was, whereas a traditional portrait shoot is more about getting a photo of everyone saying “cheese”….don’t worry, I always try to get a shot like that during my lifestyle sessions!), let me know! Right now, I’m booking sessions for next summer when I return from Spain, but I’m also offering shoots to local families in Barcelona as well 🙂
