Photo shoot sessions with young children CAN be tricky.  They like to wander off, eat things from the ground and cry when they do not get their way.  The want to wear clothing and feature props (mostly toys and rocks) that you would never think to wear or bring to a photo shoot.  If they are at an age where incentives work, on shoot day it might be worth using those brives, wisely.

One of the best ways to work around all of it is not to.   Embrace it until it becomes a real problem, then distract the child, take it or change them, and quickly redirect that energy.  Flip them upside down, swing them around, show them a really special spot on site JUST for them.  Stay positive and tell them they are doing awesome.  If they have a quick breakdown they will recover from, I will shoot a few and move on.

If the child is really really upset, don’t take that thing away OR make them change.   It might just make things worse.  Should it be an item of clothing, come prepared and iIf you can’t beat um, join um.  Everyone wear PJs, jerseys, or hats.  Whatever it is they are attached to, get on board.  If they keep trying to eat rocks, in a family photo, you should too!  Pretend that is and then move on.  It can be funny and fun and capture that moment perfectly.  Realize that this is a moment in their life and we are celebrating it.  That is OK.  Maybe even more than that, it is who they are on photo day and that is a good thing to capture.