A)  If your child is at all shy, please be patient.  We give them as much time as they (not you or I) need to warm up to me and my

camera.  It is very rare that even the most apprehensive child doesn’t become my buddy after 20-30 minutes.  Eager to please,

many parents urge their child(ren) on, and this rarely ever helps.  Please allow us to create a bond with your child at their pace

(Most parents know this, and agree, but ultimately need to be reminded of this 2-4 times during the first five minutes of the

portrait session).  Please give us a little space with your child so they do not feel as though they have to “preform” for you with us.

It’s also best to try to keep the ‘variations’  (i.e. attire and poses, etc) during the session to a minimum.  We will always start with the

most important poses and attire (i.e. child alone, child with sibling, child with mom/dad/grandparents, child with any special

outfits, etc etc…’you get the picture’).  Children, especially younger ones, can only tolerate a limited amount of time to pose and

stay still for photographs, so it is important to get the key shots initially and quickly.

B)  Please do not answer for your child when we ask him or her a question. We try to bond with them by getting them to talk to us.

Often times, we will reach out to “test” your child(ren) to see how they will respond.  Depending on their reaction (if they reach

back to hold a hand/finger), it shows us if we are gaining their trust yet.  We like to take time to get to know your child and let them

get used to us before we start shooting.

C)  Please please please do not tell your child(ren) to “smile”.   That’s our job.  Besides, “cheese” or “smile”  is almost always a fake or

forced smile.  We will get your child(ren) to smile by other measures that create real smiles such as goofy faces, funny stories, talking

up their interests, etc…you know, kid stuff!!  We’re great at kid stuff (we’re kids at heart)!

D)  We encourage any ideas or props in your session, so have fun with it and get creative!  Many parents bring in 1-3 outfits and

various accessories such as hats, scarves and jewelry.  However, it’s important to keep in mind that changing multiple outfits on

younger children usually changes their moods too.  We recommend keeping it simple for the younger subjects.  They grow up so

fast!