It's going better than you think - I promise

I've been photographing Krystal's family for years.  With three young children, and one with special needs, her life in general is chaotic, as is typically the case with families with young children. After our session the other night, she told me that she felt like there had not been many opportunities for me to get any good pictures. She was very pleasantly surprised by the couple of preview shots I had posted. I've heard that several times, particularly from clients with larger families and/or families with small children, so I thought maybe I should try to put your mind at ease if you fall in that category.

First off, I want to discuss what we are NOT going to do...we are NOT going to spend an hour trying to get a family picture with everyone smiling at the camera.  First off, if we did that, then by the end of the session everyone would be miserable and crying, and even if we did get the picture, the memory associated with it would not be a good one, and that's not what I want for you.  We will attempt to get family photos, some of you looking at me, and others of you interacting with each other.  I will do my best to get a family shot, but not obsessively so.  I also know i my mind that if I cant' get one picture where everyone is looking, that I do have the ability to combine a few different shots into one in photoshop (which I thankfully did not need to do for this session.)  So if you think that there is no way that I got a picture where all the kids are looking and no ones eyes are closed, maybe I didn't...but that's OK.  

What we ARE going to do at your session is to play and to try to capture some candid moments of your children that highlight who they are right now at this moment in time.  And here is what you need to know about how the session is going...  

• When you were trying to deal with your son who needed some time to get use to the situation, I was playing in the leaves with your girls, and they were hilarious.  (Sorry about the leaves in their hair.)
• Your child who doesn't want to leave your side...that's perfectly fine. His picture can be taken while he's holding a parents hand or in his parents arms.  That's who he is right now and it's beautiful. 
• Your toddler who refuses to wear her shoes...bare feet are cuter anyway. 
• When you were comforting your child and didn't realize I was watching...yes I caught that too.  That's my job. 
• When the kids had had enough and wanted to go to the playground, you thought we were finished, but really we were just beginning. Playgrounds are a perfect place to capture children being themselves. 

So please don't think that your family is "impossible to photograph".  That's just not a thing.  I promise.