As a parent do you find it difficult to get your older children to participate in family photo shoots? Well, if there was a little emoji on my computer that had a hand up I would definitely slide one in this post.
I have a tween who hates taking pictures for me, so I've really tried to figure out what I can do to change this. One day I read an article about props and when I think about props I think about Christmas or maybe Newborn photo shoots. The article spoke about props like cool soda bottles, bubble gum, and yes, even the dreaded cell phones. So I had to put this knowledge to the test.
My middle daughter only lets me take her pict once a year and this was a perfect time to test the waters. I had her bring an old camera along with us and she was really dragging her feet about this, but she eventually gave in. Of course we started with the smiley photos first, but once that was over I pulled out the camera. She hated it at first, but she eventually gave in and those were some of the best photos I got out of all the ones I took of her. Here's one of my favorite ones below!
She didn't have to really pose all she had to do was hold the camera up and I was able to capture a moment. There were no tense shoulders or unwanted smiles and this had me thinking, "Maybe there is something to this prop thing."
So I have been on a mission to help parents ease their worries when it comes down to getting their older children in the frame. For example, I had a session in San Antonio, Tx last weekend. The mom was so worried about how her family was going to act and she has three children which two of them are in that tween/teenage years. And I asked her what were some of the things they were interested in and we talked a bit and I came up with a plan. I bought bubble gum.
The bubble gum was a hit with her oldest son and movement was great for her tween and the youngest one as well.
Is there anyone out there who struggles with their oldest children when it comes to getting their pictures taken?
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