Shoot Those Girls!

One of my favorite types of photo session is with small children. I like working with the little ones because they are so unpredictable and I actually get a great deal of exercise trying to keep up with them. While this can be a major motivator to keep me on my photographic toes, as it were, this type of sitting can quickly turn chaotic and frenzied for everyone. When the kids enter this state of pandemonium there is not much I, as the photographer can do. I just look at the mom, or in the case of this week’s photo, the two moms and say with my eyes “HELP!?” Well, in this case I actually said that with my mouth too. Those two little girls were in control of the entire room and they knew it.

The photo session was supposed to go like this. It was right before Christmas and the two moms, sisters, and their husbands, met with their firstborn little girls in the lobby of a large apartment complex where one family lived. Ruth had just turned one and Brynn was 10 months. The two moms and I discussed the shoot and agreed to go with Christmas colors for their dresses. So, the moms went off to adorn their girls with the new outfits and I set about arranging the session area. I set up my portable lighting equipment and performed a few light balance tests and when everything was technically perfect, I called the families down to begin the shoot. As soon as the moms placed their girls on the couch they both began to cry. Now babies cry all the time and sometimes when I capture the correct ‘tear in the eye’ it can be very heart warming, but not these girls. No, their cries were the pained cries of an innocent being tortured in some gruesome way. Their cries pierced the atmosphere and I am sure ever canine within a 30 mile radius perked up to see what could have caused such a sound. So, we separated them, which did little to dissuade their determination. No, they were not going to have their portraits taken and that was final. It was as if they had secretly met in their cribs the night before and made a pact, “no portraits, on pain of death” and swore and oath.

I fancy myself as a fixer of problems and solver of tribulations and I was not about to be outdone by two little girls, no, there was more at stake here. My professional reputation as a children’s photographer and my ‘face’ were up for the taking. I suggested that we move the couch away from the wall, use the curtains a as backdrop and have the kids stand on the couch, facing me. I would then position the two moms behind the couch to entertain and distract as I prepared for the shot. Then, just at the perfect moment I would say “NOW” and the two moms would duck behind the couch and Ruth and Brynn would be left standing in all their glory. How was I to know that one year old little girls can turn faster than my 1/200^th of second actuator? I had no idea they could move that fast. Every time I yelled “NOW” the moms would duck and the two girls would spin around to see what was going on. Granted they had quit crying, and they did seem to be having fun, so, I decided not to fight it any longer. I let the moms continue their behind the couch entertainment and I just shot away.

The families came away from the photo session somewhat amazed over how two such tiny people could end up controlling the actions of so many adults. And I came away with a very unique portrait of two beautiful little girls and the memory of what it was like to be young and filled with so much energy.

Have you ever had a photo session go awry and end up with something you hadn’t planned? Tell me about it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Portraiture, Weekly Photo and tagged with Baby Portraits, Christmas Portrait, crying babies, Fun, Photo Session, red dress, white dress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.