Oh photos with little ones. The joys and the pain. I know it, I’ve been there both behind the camera and in front of it. Here are a few of my favorite tips to help get wonderful photos of this crazy time of life.

1. Good Prep!
This is absolutely essential. If baby is hungry (ask me how I know) or sister’s sweater is itchy there’s nothing I as a photographer can do to fix it. Making sure everyone is as fed, rested and comfortable as possible with make things go so much smoother.

2. Have fun poses
Making sure you have some movement planned can really get the kids involved. These can be as simple as “hey can you show me that stick you have”? Or more complicated, “everyone go and tackle hug dad!” There are lots of ideas on Pinterest if you’re doing a DIY photoshoot or hire a photographer who has experience shooting these little tornados.

3. Let the kids be part of the action
This one was a big game changer for my family. I bought my 3 year old a $12 camera off amazon (it’s probably nicer than my first camera anyway haha!) and let her bring it whenever I wanted her to do a photoshoot for me. Then we took turns taking pictures. This could easily be accomplished with a phone camera, but the little pink one was really fun for us.

4. FORGET PERFECTION!

Remember that this can be an overwhelming experience for your kids, and they are unlikely to be on their best behavior the whole time. Accept that the unexpected will probably occur and that there is joy in the unexpected. Remember 20 years from now you probably won’t mind that your child is crying in their picture, and you definitely won’t remember the headache the whole experience was. You’ll just be glad that you captured their little selves before their little selves were gone.