Children and Photography - part one of many.

Children's photography is not for the faint of heart, especially outdoors. You have to be prepared to do pretty much whatever the little one is going to do, including crawling or laying on the ground. While I have done the studio time with photographing children, I prefer capturing them in their own element. Why? First, they are having fun doing what they want, which creates genuine expressions and lets their personality shine through. Second, they don't really realize they are being photographed, which means their good temperament lasts longer and I am able to take a little more time to capture that perfect moment.

For example, take this cute three year old (at the time). She and I (and her mom, of course) ran around the beach for an hour. Yes, there were a good number of people there, and yes I ended up with sand everywhere and almost falling in the lake, but my crazy maneuvers worked and I was able to capture these moments.

This one always makes me smile because this was the first time she got her feet wet and realized how chilly the water was at first. 

 This image was an unplanned pose. We were walking down to a less-crowded part of the beach, and I found myself with a clear angle to take the picture. :)

It always makes me laugh a little when parents start to apologize for me having to start crawling or running around or crouching at weird angles to get a shot. These are kids! They are going to run around and do what they do; sitting and smiling pretty isn't always an option - and that is really ok! I know what I'm getting into when there are little ones involved, and I wouldn't trade it. (It keeps life fun and interesting!)

I'll brag on more of the amazing kiddos and families I've had the pleasure to work with later.

Until next time, keep on clickin'!