How to have a stress free shoot with kids – featuring Sarah and Scotts family

The best part about doing shoots with small children is you never know what you’re going to get. This is what makes each shoot unique. It’s all about going with the flow and having fun. After all, when everyone’s having fun the results are going to be great. After shooting for 25 years I’ve picked up a few tricks to make this easier…

• Choose a location that has few rules. You don’t wan to be saying “don’t touch that”, “Don’t go over there”. This limits the chances of tantrums.
• Be flexible, the kids are the ones running the show. Just don’t tell them that!
• Don’t tell the kids you’re going to have photos and they have to ‘behave’. Tell them you’re going to have fun as a family and I’ll be there to have fun with you.
•  Avoid telling the kids to ‘SMILE’. If they have to be told to smile, it’ll be a fake smile and we don’t want that.
• Pack snacks, that way if it all goes pear shaped we can take a break and have a snack to divert their attention.

It’s really important YOU also enjoy the shoot. After all, when you look at the photos you want to remember a fun afternoon not a stressful one.

This shoot was the definition of fun. Thanks for trusting me to document this crazy, beautiful, fleeting time in your lives Sarah and Scott.

Megan 🙂