What Happens When Your Kids Won't Pose for Family Photos
Two kids, their mom, their grandma, and one evening at Claude Moore Park. The kids had no interest at all in holding a pose.
I could tell within the first few minutes that asking them to stand still and look at me was going to be a fight, and I did not want to spend the session in one. So we went for a walk instead.
Every few minutes, a new spot
Between each stop, the kids found something to expend their energy on. The boy walked along with his eyes closed. His sister kicked a leg in the air while he held on to her, and at another point the two of them wrestled in the grass. He had a toy dinosaur with him, and it ended up in shots with each of the kids.
Why this works
When kids are having fun and being themselves, and that is ok, we usually don't get temper tantrums. We get their personality shining through. With normal stand and smile photos, the kids could be interchangeable, and you can't tell who they are from how they look. When you let kids be themselves, you get to capture that pure part of them that goes away too fast as they get older.
It doesn’t work every minute. Somebody gets tired, or hungry, or just done, and that is ok. Kids are kids. We can take a break for a minute and work with them how they are.
What I actually say
I give little jobs, not poses. Walk toward me, slowly, and talk to each other about anything. Whisper something ridiculous to your brother. Everyone squeeze in on the bench. Closer than that. The reaction is the photo, so I want them reacting to each other and not to me.
Yes, you still get the posed ones
I always get a few photos with everyone looking at the camera, and I usually get them early, while everyone is fresh. Grandparents often want those, and you probably do too. Once they are done, nobody has to think about it anymore, and I can use the posed moments to get to the in-between ones.
Why I run sessions this way
I don’t love being in front of a camera myself. I am usually a little awkward myself, so I know how it feels when someone says "okay, everybody smile." The photos of my own family that I keep going back to are the ones where everyone was worn out and actually happy, and nobody was posing.
I am a family photographer in Ashburn, shooting outdoors around Loudoun County. If your kids walk the other way when a camera comes out, that is who I plan sessions around, and you can reach me here. What would your kids do if nobody asked them to pose?