Successful sessions with “slow to warm” children: How to manage it.


So you’ve finally gotten around to booking that family session and now the one thing that is keeping you up at night in the days leading up to your shoot is “I hope my darling child survives this session without melting down or tantruming.” You spend all of your free time for two days explaining to your adorable two year old how they are going to come see me, how they are going to have fun and smile and how they will do a good job and you may even get them to practice their smile with you and you may even pull out all the stops and bribe them if they do a good job. The big day comes and all of a sudden, ALL OF YOUR OLYMPIC TRAINING PREPARING FOR THE MAIN EVENT GOES OUT THE WINDOW!!!…. The only thing that remains is the sweaty armpits of your mortified self because your child has become seemingly feral in your opinion and you can’t believe you convinced yourself your family was ready to do this….


That’s where I come in. (I get it… my own children boycott me and my camera and I have a very slow to warm middle child who played a serious game of “where’s Waldo” in every family photo we tried to take). Those are some of my favorite photos though. Because they tell the story of “this is us” at that point in our life…. And isn’t that why we want family photos?… so that in the future, they tell the story of our past.


When you book a session with me, I always give ample time to warm up everyone in your family. I will ask about special needs or ways that your children may be best approached. I will be playful and patient. We will go with the flow of how your family dynamic is that day. I will work with all willing players and then slowly catch the “unwilling” in unexpected moments. I will capture the cuddles, the hesitation, the playfulness and the shyness. The outgoing and the energetic and most importantly, the love shared between everyone. And I can attest that even with the “slowest to warm” and with the “most unwilling” I have always been able to deliver a gallery that is memorable and loved by the family that thought it all went south.


So, arrive prepared to showcase your family in all the ways they are… and just enjoy the ride! (And when all else fails, let me know whatever bribe they are being encouraged with and I will run with it!).