Victoria and Brandon came to me through a recommendation from my client Chelsea, and I met them at Grant Park for a mini session with their two kiddos, Theo and Audrey.
We had perfect overcast skies, two toddlers and a limited amount of time.
My kind of challenge.
Audrey is one, which means she had absolutely no intention of staying wherever we happened to put her.
As she should.
She wanted to move, explore and investigate everything around her, so rather than spending our entire mini session trying to convince a one-year-old that sitting still is suddenly a valuable life skill, we worked with it.
At this age, movement is the photo.
Theo, who is three, was a little more hesitant about me at first. Completely normal. Then I offered to let him use my camera to take a few photos of Mom and Dad.
Suddenly, we had common interests.
He warmed up quickly once he got to be involved, and it’s one of those little things that works because we’re not asking kids to perform for a stranger. We’re giving them something interesting to do and letting the session develop from there.
That’s especially important during mini sessions. Your kids don’t have to suddenly behave like completely different children because we’re taking photos. I just need to figure out how to work with whichever version of them shows up that day.
For the Ralstons, that meant one very busy explorer and one newly appointed assistant photographer.
I’ll take it.
If you’re looking for relaxed family photos in Atlanta that don’t require your toddler to magically stop being a toddler, browse my family photography portfolio or take a look at Packages & Pricing.