Without having a name for it I’ve been shooting these great sessions for years. Now they’re called Wild Child sessions and they’re just fun shoots with your littles where we play & explore together.
I just absolutely LOVE sessions like this as I develop more and more distaste for the usual perfect family portrait.It makes me cringe when I force your young children to smile all sitting in a row. It makes me sad inside when I have to bribe them. And it makes me feel really guilty when the pressure of a photoshoot causes a little kid to get in trouble for not behaving.
Don’t get me wrong–I’m all in for proper discipline! But there’s something VERY unnatural about the kind of family portraits we’ve grown accustomed to, and that photographers like myself have been perpetuating for young families.
When babies or children are freaking out and being weirdos during shoots, parents, often exasperated and disappointed (and maybe embarrassed–which they shouldn’t be!), give up trying to control outfits and accessories and hair and smiles and posing. And that’s when I smile and remind them that THIS right here, right now is how they’ll remember their wild child being–themselves!
And isn’t that what photography is all about? A snapshot of ourselves at a specific phase in life?
Sometimes it’s a messy phase, or an incredibly energetic phase, or a clingy phase…they’re all pieces of yarn that get woven together into your unique little humans. And they’re pieces not to be ashamed of and hidden.
Let’s be real and take real photos.
No wardrobe changes, no forced smiles, no bribery, NO AGENDA; just photographing your children as they are and as you’ll remember them being.
Siblings welcome and pets definitely welcome.
Parents are welcome too–but just for a little bit!
Email me to schedule your Wild Child Session for Spring, Summer or Fall 2016!
