Our little bean this week was a shake, rattle and roller and capturing this two year old was a blast. She kept us all on our toes (nudge/wink Mom). She just loved to be on the go. When I am photographing an active two year old it’s all hands on deck. Everyone takes a role: Mom makes sure little one is well fed and faces stay as clean as possible, Dad is usually the comic relief, that can step in when needed and I’m doing a little entertaining, setting up and yes of course photographing the little ones and the family.
What really works well is DISTRACTION. Once the attention span starts to wane with one group of shots, we quickly move to another area. Or we might start singing a song that they like to clap and dance to. We’ll even do mini-races to keep them laughing and smiling. Usually Mom or Dad chasing little ones is perfect for great big smiles from both the two year old being photographed and the parents chasing them.
We also mixed up this photo session with some indoor and outdoor (thank you Seattle cooperating weather). I usually start with shooting in the natural light studio and as the little peoples spirit and attention starts waning, we head outside for a change of scenery. Remember, Distraction, is the key for two year olds. I usually recommend that we work no longer than an hour for this age, but that should be plenty of time to create meaningful, fun and artistic portraits of the child and their family in and around Seattle.
Seattle Child Photographer Tips for Photographing a Two Year Old:
- Distraction: change locations and activities every 10 minutes
- Sing Songs- they love to clap and perform
- Everyone helps, put phones away and get silly
- Chasing games, letting them “make decisions”
- Reverse Psychology
- Make sure are well fed to start with, stop for snacks half way
- Did I mention distraction ?
Dancing ballerina at Heather Quintans Studio
Two year old portrait in Seattle
