On the Other Side…

Yesterday we finally had our family shoot with the amazing, Tara Whitney.  We rescheduled this shoot 3 times (extreme heat wave, pink eye, and road rash were to blame).  I wasn’t exactly sure this shoot was ever going to happen, but I’m so happy it finally did.  It’s such an odd thing being on the other side of the camera.  I know exactly what the photographer wants because it’s the same thing I want from my clients, but it’s still a little nerve racking.  It didn’t help that B was in a BAD mood.  I decided to forego his second nap because he would have been sleeping when we started and it takes him a good hour or two to wake up.  He was ready for a nap before Tara even got here, but he was a trooper.  Brayden is at such a hard age to shoot right now.  He’s all over the place and doesn’t want to be told what to do.  But, I have total confidence that Tara got some awesome shots that will make Brayden look like he’s having a good time even if he wasn’t

I can’t wait to see the images and share them with you!  We got some really fun shots in a shopping cart… with me and Brayden… and it almost tipped over… and Tara almost threw her camera down to save us… but Chuck got it… it was scary… but we’re okay… except for a bruise on my arm  And Chuck got a fat lip.  Tara should really have a disclaimer that should say “Just be… warned that you may get injured”.  Haha!  Tara was even nicer and more rad in person than I had imagined.  It was a great day!  Tiring, but great!

Here are some tips on how to  make the most out of your family shoot:

1)  Schedule it when your kids are the happiest.  I should have known better, but we did start later than we scheduled.   If I were to do it over I would have tried to put B down for an earlier nap and started a little later.

2)  Pick a location that has meaning to you.  We did this shoot because we’re moving and this is Brayden’s first house.  Everything that we’ve done as a family has happened here.  I love our neighborhood and I wanted a shoot of us being a family here.

3)  There’s no way around it.  You will get stressed at some point during your family shoot.  But, know that your photographer is used to it and let them do their thing.  Let your kids take breaks and get some of their energy out.  Be patient and it will pay off.

4)  Pamper yourself.  I hired a sitter to take B off of my hands for a few hours so I could get my hair done and clean the house.  It gave me more energy to deal with him during the shoot.  Otherwise I would have been exhausted before we even started!

5)  Pick a photographer that suits your family.  Don’t pick a formal photographer if you want lifestyle shots and vice versa.  Inform your entire family what type of pictures you want from the shoot.  And better yet, even show them the photographers blog so they can really get an idea. 

And since I don’t have any images from the shoot yet here’s one I took of Brayden last weekend modeling a shirt from Marlin’s Mom.  I love my little gap toothed boy!