How to keep three young boys, who don’t particularly like having their photos taken and who definitely don’t smile on demand, engaged for a whole session? And get good photos of them?

These were questions that the mum of these boys had obviously asked herself in advance and had come up with great solutions to. Firstly, I had already met all the family, which really helps everyone to relax. Secondly, ample snacks were on hand so that the kids weren’t hungry. Thirdly, games and toys were set up in a couple of different rooms in the house, with both parents around playing with the kids. This meant that I could focus for a bit on one kid, and the others were doing something enjoyable and engaging rather than getting bored while waiting for their turn. It also meant that I could get natural action shots of the kids playing games they enjoy, meaning that the smiles are genuine as they are doing something that is fun for them. For the kids it was more like a day of games with their parents and brothers, the photography was incidental.

As a result of all this the session ran like a dream and I even got smiley photos of the child who doesn’t normally smile much.