This family is seriously the best! Jamie is a dear friend of mine from our days as next door neighbors and their three kids are some of the cutest around! Keep scrolling and you’ll see what I mean! I was so excited at the chance to take their family portraits again this fall during our Nashville Fall Minis at a private family farm just south of Nashville in Arrington, TN. The golden light and joyful faces are sure to put a smile on your face as you scroll through some of my favorite images below from our time together last Saturday.
Now in case you are wondering, as effortless and beautiful as these images turned out, getting three kids 5 and under to smile for the camera is no easy task even for the seasoned photographer with a background in early childhood like myself, especially when two of them are 2 year old twins! So how did I capture those joyful smiling family photos? I’ll fill you in on some of the behind the scenes action that produced such perfect fall family photos filled with contagious smiles and lots of giggles.
In preparation for their session, dad made a deal with big brother for him to earn a dollar for good smiles and cooperation and mom packed a goodies bag of treats with the girls that were easy and mess-free to use during our session to reward good listening and playful smiles. Parents working out rewards for their kiddos before every portrait session is something I recommend and give ideas for in my Portrait Experience Guide, which I give all my clients when they book with me to help them feel well prepared for a successful session.
We brought up these planned rewards A LOT during their session! Such good motivation during a short mini session! Big bro and one of the twins was totally on board with giving picture perfect smiles and silly giggles for these planned treats 🙌🏻 but the other sweet sister was not having it! She did not want to be there and no amount of exciting reward talk was going to change her mind.
AND GUESS WHAT?! THAT’S OK! Mamas out there reading this thinking to themselves “but what if this doesn’t work for my kid?” Some times it doesn’t, but don’t worry friend! That’s not the only trick I have up my sleeve when it come to getting kids comfortable and cooperative for photos during your session. So what did we do next? Gave her a break! I rolled with the ones that wanted to be there and who were having fun smiling and being silly with me, which helped the one who didn’t want to be there warm up a little bit. Then when we tried again, I suggested Dad find some of those irresistible belly-laugh tickle spots while everyone else was looking at me and smiling which helped us nail that family shot you see here where everyone was looking and smiling at the camera.
Staying calm, playing, being silly and rolling with kiddos’ wide range of moods while prepared with my mental bag of ticks and parents’ prepared bag of treats is a sure way to make some memories and capture some great images of our time together.
Enjoy some of my favorites from this Nashville Fall Family Mini Session with smiles powered by Smarties, dollar bills, and lots of tickles!
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I'M JANET!
Photographer
I'm a wife, mama, former preschool teacher, and family & newborn photographer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. I have a passion for serving mamas and helping them capture beautiful snapshots of life with their littles to treasure for a lifetime.
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