Stellan + The Realities of Photographing Rad Little Kiddos

I wanted to share Stellan's 10 in 10 session today for a few reasons. First, he's ridiculously adorable and hilarious, so how could I not want to share these. Second, though, is that Stellan had kind of a hard time during our session and I wanted to talk about that a little bit because I never have, I think it's important and I also want to try to give parents total reassurance about these moments. 

It's not lost on me that having a camera shoved in your face is intimidating and uncomfortable at any age, let alone when you're a kid and especially when you're two, three or four and everything is just A. LOT.

I won't go too far into it, but I just want to say to all the parents out there that have done a photo shoot with me, or are thinking about it, that I TOTALLY expect your kids to be crazy or to breakdown at some point or to not want to do something that I say and in no way am I judging you nor do I think it's a reflection of your parenting. At all. I think instead that it's a complete reflection of this crazy situation that we've put them in and I honestly think they behave in about the most accurate and honest way as possible. They're kids and they're being confronted with a new, overwhelming, weird situation with a stranger. When a camera is pointed at me I, internally, feel a lot like your kiddos. 

After 10+ years of photographing kids I also know that we're just going to ride those waves together, I'm going to be endlessly patient with your little munchkin and when I see things taking a turn I'll quickly try to steer the ship in a different direction to keep us all happy, laughing and having so much fun. You just have to sit back, laugh at your kiddo, let the crazy moments fly by, trust me to document your family in all it's glory, and maybe have a glass of wine or two waiting in the wings for naptime. ;) 

In the middle of the insanity, though, we're going to get some rad photos of your sweet, crazy kid and it'll all be worth it. I promise.