Toddlers Are Tuff

Photographing toddlers is not for the faint of heart. Especially if they are par to of your own family. I have photographed babies and toddlers before and it is usually 40 % preparation and 60 % waiting for the right moment.

Here is an example. I was tasked with updating more of the family portraits to be displayed on the wall. So, following an Easter lunch get together we planned on photographing one of my son’s and his family. The pairings would be as follows;

1- two-year-old boy

1- 4 month-old boy

1 shot of the couple

1 shot of the family.

This was an ambitious plan given the fact that some of the subjects were napless toddlers. But, when Mimi (Grandma) makes the request to get ‘er done….you attempt to get ‘er done.

Since the day was getting longer we decided to attempt getting something acceptable with the toddlers first. Should we have tried the group picture first? The thought did cross my mind, but since Mimi wasn’t expecting miracles in the group pic, but preferred to have a somewhat pleasant expression in the individual pic, I opted to try individual pics first. Then, with luck, we might get a usable expression between screams during the group photo.

Well, after lugging the equipment over to the lunch and then setting up, here is how things progressed.

We started with Mr. Sammy who was busy trying to knock stuff over with one of his riding toys. I figured the Lumedynes could handle a fall while nestled safely in the softbox so I was happy to try and grab a photo while he moved around on his riding toy.

We started out with this expression.