Amelia came up with this brilliant idea a week or two ago. 2 minute photography sessions. Both her and Elijah each create whatever they want to create for these two minutes. Outfits, props, location-everything. At the end of the week, we vote on who won and that child gets to pick the movie and dessert for our Friday pizza and a movie night (which is a big deal in our house).
As a photographer + mom who has two children that are really sick of having their photos taken, this is astonishing. My children actually ask ME to take their photos now. And it is something they really want to do-their idea, their imagination, so I don’t even have to try to get authentic-ness out of them. They are happy to be there and it shows in the photos.
The title of Amelia’s photo shoot this week is “No Smiles.”
This was a really good theme for me as a professional photographer. I am always trying so hard to get smiles out of children. And I have A LOT of ways I achieve that goal. But sometimes the sweetest photos are when they are just really connecting with their family, or with me (the camera). My goal is always to capture the being-ness of them. Who they are, how they see the world. With children, it is usually with joy and surprize and love. And often it is them just being, just witnessing this world.
We have been doing these 2 minute photography sessions for two weeks now and so far it has been amazing. I am finally getting some beautiful photos of my own children. Children that have been photographed endlessly by their photographer mother a million times. It is bringing out all their creativity, light, and excitement. They help me choose the best ones and sit with me while I edit the photos. What a brilliant idea, Amelia! xoxo
If you would like to keep up with this project you can friend me on Facebook (I find that my best clients are the people I like to be friends with anyways). I won’t post all of these on my blog or Facebook business page.
Stacey Potter is a children’s photographer in Boulder, Colorado and Mid-Coast Maine. For more information on scheduling a children’s photography session, please contact Stacey at 208.542.1565 (Maine) or 303.818.7757 (Boulder, Colorado).
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