I did two more photo shoots today, it was so much fun! Micah got to see his friends, and I got to practice my photo skills. I’ve learnt as I continue to do this that kids are so unpredictable. They are also all so different. They behave differently at different ages. Girls, within the age of 6-9 months are generally easier because they are not too mobile yet and they can be quite generous with their smiles. Any older than that, depending on the development of their motor skills, could get quite challenging! Take Micah for example, it is SO difficult to get him to stay still let alone smile and stay still! That is why ANY photo I manage to get of him that is decent, is actually great effort and I pat myself at the back for that achievement, lol.

Babies that are too young can be challenging too. A lot of photographers do newborn shots with them basically sleeping all the way throughout the photo shoot. I struggle with sleeping shots, mostly because I don’t do a lot of them. I like my little models to lift their heads and make facial expressions. I love the clarity of their eyes in each shot, they each tell a simple little story about how they are feeling that day – happy, grumpy, amused, daydreamy, curious, etc.

Micah and I had a great day today, or at least it was great until Micah decided he didn’t want to have an afternoon nap so he was grumpy the rest of the day and of course I got grumpy too because I don’t like dealing with a grumpy kid… but let’s not focus on the annoying part of the day.

Before my little models arrived, I managed to get a few shots of Micah (what a miracle!) which was good. I find I have to keep “inventing” new ways to keep him distracted, to make him stay put for more than 2 seconds, and to smile. Today I figured out a new trick and it worked just long enough for me to take some new shots of him. Hooray!

My first model Ashlea arrived and she was such a delight to work with! She doesn’t quite move around so much yet, which was perfect for me! Her mum brought a lot of different outfits which made it so much fun, and we had to come up with different tricks to get her to smile but in the end it was a fantastic photo session with a lot of great photos which made the cut.

And then came Gaby, in many ways she is very similar to Micah, very active! So yes it was a struggle to get her to stay still but eventually we got there and I got a few great shots of her as well as a few cute little outfit changes! This photo of her above is my personal favorite.. how mesmerizing is her look in this photo!

After the photo shoot, we all had some lunch and a play. It was a great day and I really enjoyed having friends and babies over. Like I said, who cares if Micah refused to have an afternoon nap after that and was very grumpy, and bath time was a nightmare, and changing him afterwards was a nightmare, but he fell asleep so easily before 6.30pm so I finally got to chill…. meh, minor detail of the day. It was a great day regardless, hehe.

Now… I want to do this all over again! WHO WANTS A FREE PHOTO SHOOT??