Tips on How to Prepare your Kids for the Mini Session

BEFORE YOUR SESSION

Before your session I strongly encourage you to make sure your children are at their best. Here are some things you can do to help ensure you have the best session possible.

WELL RESTED KIDS

Sleep is extremely important for most children. It is the difference between a cheerful or a miserable child. The night before your session I strongly recommend you follow your sleep routine and make sure your child is in bed with plenty of time for a full night’s sleep. It’s not a great idea to try new sleeping arrangements or to stay up late before your session. If your child will nap before your session make sure they get their full nap.

WELL FED KIDS

Hunger is the second most important thing for children and hungry kids are grumpy kids. Please feed your child a full meal before you leave the house. It’s also a good idea to pack fast, quick snacks that aren’t messy, in case hunger creeps up right before or during your session. Don’t bring sticky foods that take a long time to eat or which will stain your child’s face or clothes. Good snacks are cheese strings or mini naans, not great choices are lollipops, pudding etc.

GIVE YOURSELF TIME

Make sure you give yourself time to arrive a few minutes early for your session. Mini sessions are done in time slots with cleaning time between sessions so sessions must finish on time and cannot run late. Arriving late for your session will mean you do not have the full time slot for your images.

INCENTIVES

The topic of using incentives can be controversial and without diving into parenting philosophies I will simply give my perspective but ultimately leave the philosophical choice to you.

Sometimes children do not want to participate in photography sessions and for a typical shoot there is usually time to warm up to their photographer and get comfortable. For mini sessions you are running on a tight schedule and this does not leave a very long time for your child to become used to the setting. For this reason, I encourage the use of incentives to help coax an uncooperative child into the photos. The type of incentive will depend on the child, some children LOVE sweet treats, some younger children get excited about baby puffs, older children often love a dollar store toy or tablet time.

Effective incentives are small and can be given in increments. Ideal treats are fast to eat and not messy ie. m&m’s. And ideal incentives are given immediately after your child participates. For example, one marshmallow given after each set up or for older kids a wrapped dollar store toy that is waiting in your purse. Treats that are promised for later are far less effective than treats that are ready to give right away.

EYE CONTACT

During your session your photographer will be working to get great eye contact with your child. She will be talking to and engaging with your children to encourage them to look to the camera. Many parents may feel that calling to their child will help but, in most cases, they cause the child to turn and look at the parent and not the camera. Try to let the photographer engage and they will let you know if they need help.

A SOFT APPROACH

During your photos you may feel frustrated and tempted to take a strict approach to managing your child’s behaviour. My suggestion is to start with a soft approach. Remember they are in a strange place and they are unsure of what is happening. Also keep in mind your photographer has seen many many children before and is aware of how children can act in new situations. Let your photographer try to connect with your child and ease them into it before you taking a firm approach. Take a step back and see how it goes, your photographer will let you know if they need your help.

MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Finally, I always remind parents to manage their expectations. Children are independent and do not always behave how we wish they would. It’s important to remember that they may not smile for photos and there could be some moments of emotional expression. It’s ok! We are capturing who they are right now and sometimes right now they are 2 and not interested in photos.