I shot a wedding last weekend where I think I had some of the cutest kids ever! Or at least the cutest ones that didn't mind me following them around with my camera. The pictures you get from kids are so much cuter when they are just being themselves, than when mom, dad or aunt are trying to get them to sit still and smile. I've thought about having a list of "thall shalt nots" to hand out when I have a session with children that include things like "thall shalt NOT try and pose the child for me", "thall shalt NOT demand that they smile or do anything in particular that you think would make the perfect picture" Why? Because that is the most surefire way to get really awkward, cranky kid pictures. When they are just running around and being kids, and you just follow them, THAT is where the real magic happens. They'll get shy and peek around someone's leg, or they will be a total diva (like my flower girl here!) But usually eventually, you'll get that shy curiosity that makes a photo so endearing. Kids are actually pretty smart when it comes to pictures. They will almost always give me something way cuter if I let them do their own thing, than if I try to make them do anything else that I might want. I think my favorite aspect is the deterioration from perfectly groomed angel to a disheveled, slightly weepy, needs-a-nap. Such raw emotion. The look on her face says it all. We all felt like that by this point. Children just don't hide it like we do:)
