Birth of the UNpose

I LOVE getting emails from all of you and I apologize if I can’t respond right away.  It’s hard to type with only one hand while holding a baby   I do my best to respond even if it’s a month later (which is so super embarrassing!).

Got this email a couple of weeks ago from Erica:

I just had my first photoshoot today with another friends child (3 weeks old) and I feel like I was all over the place. I have a deep interest in photography, shoot my kids nonstop, but feel as if I shoot by luck, and can’t find a place to start! I would like any advice you can give to me, as a beginner, a mom with a camera to finding my way!

Great question!  I had this problem when I started as well and this is, inadvertently, how the UNposes were born.

When I was a beginner I would have all these ideas that I wanted to try for shoots, but I would get to the shoot, get nervous, loose my train of thought, and then just freeze up and have my clients do the same thing over and over again in a new place.  I would kick myself after the shoot because I felt I didn’t have enough variety.

Then I started giving my UNposes silly  names so they were easy for me to remember.  Based on who I was shooting (couple, family with small kids, family with lots of kids, etc) I would pick 5 UNposes that I wanted to try on that shoot.  And the great thing about an UNpose is that it usually yields several looks rather than just one so I would get a lot of variety.
In addition, I would shoot different angles of the same pose.  Shoot straight on, from above, below, zoom in, zoom out, etc.  So I can get a lot of variety from just one setup.

I always go into a shoot with a game plan.  And then know that it’s going to change.  When shooting kids, your shoots are going to be super unpredictable and you have to learn to go with the flow and adapt quickly.  Kids never do what you want them to do.  And that’s okay.  You are there to capture that family’s essence and who they really are.  But, by at least having some sort of game plan you are able to stay focused and keep your composure even when the kids don’t!

A Sad Superman Isn’t So Super

Remember those super cute Superman pics I posted earlier this week?

Well, I have a confession.  That wasn’t the first attempt at taking those pictures of Brayden.  I took him out on Sunday morning and I should have known better.  I set myself up for failure.  He was tired and a little sick.  But, I’ve been so busy taking pictures of other peoples kids that I had to do Brayden’s pictures Sunday morning.

And this is what happened…

He cried.  A lot.

And screamed.

He screamed so loud that I was afraid someone would hear and call the police to report a kidnapping.  It was a major meltdown of epic proportions.

Brayden does not like to have his picture taken.  Which is very sad for me because I LOVE to take his picture.  And most of all, I love spending one on one time with him.  It broke my heart when he freaked out the way he did.

But, on Monday morning he surprised me and told me he wanted to try again.  I made him promise me he would have fun.  And guess what?  He did.  And I did too.

I’ve had to get creative about how I approach taking pictures with Brayden.  I want it to be a positive experience for him.  Here are some tips that have worked for us:

1)  Have the obvious bases covered:  Make sure the kid is fed and not tired.  Having a tired and hungry kid is setting yourself up for failure.  Obviously.

2)  Ask your kid what kind of treat they would like as their reward.  Promising them a toy after the shoot won’t work.  Kids need immediate gratification.  Make sure it’s something that’s not chocolatey or sticky.  Avoid suckers unless you want it in all your shots.  Because once you give them a sucker you can’t get it back.

3)  Ask your kid for input on the shoot.  For Brayden, he didn’t like the “old” buildings.  So I let him pick and choose where we would shoot.  Make them think they are in charge.

4)  Make it fun!  If you do your best to have fun and not be stressed about getting the perfect shot then your kid will (hopefully) have fun too.  Make it an adventure for them. I told Brayden that the area where we were shooting was Superman’s home.  We talked about where Spiderman lived and how Superman flew from building to building and fought the bad guys.  He got really into it.

5)  Make a memory!  I don’t ask B to take pictures anymore.  I ask him to make a memory with me.  I show him lots of pictures on the computer and talk about the memories I have from the pictures.  He loves looking at them.  When shooting I try to remind him that we get to go home and look at the memories we are making.

6)  If they’re not into it, put the camera down, give them a hug, and try again tomorrow.  It’s not worth them getting so upset over it.