The Boys Photo Shoot at the Park

I recently threatened Steve that I was going to take the boys to a mall photography studio (gasp!) to get their pictures taken because we can't seem to get a good shot of the two of them together. (Talking about a mall studio to a photographer is the same as asking a chef if they want to eat at McDonalds). I mean, we have shots of them rolling around on the floor together, or taking a bath together, or just generally goofing around, but as soon as we put them in some decent clothes and try to get them both to smile and look in the same direction, chaos ensues. It just doesn't work! It is like they smell it coming....."oh, no! A photo shoot, and Mom and Dad want a picture of us together. Let's scramble!" And to be perfectly honest, it is MOM that really wants the framer shot, not Dad. He is perfectly happy with all the casual shots.

So, I made an appointment for Monday with Picture People in the Frisco mall, and Steve said innocently, "Well, what's wrong with the pictures I take of the boys?". So I said I would give him a shot on Saturday, and if we got some good ones of the boys together, I would cancel the appointment. But deep in my heart, I knew what was going to happen.

So we get up, dress the boys in their new matching outfits (when did I become the crazy Mom that dresses her kids exactly alike for pictures) drive to the park, and it begins right away. We put the boys down on some rocks together and tried to get them both looking at the camera, and immediately Caleb is trying to get away. How do you reason with a newly turned one year old who just found their walking shoes that it is time to sit still, look at the camera, and say "cheese"? So they start getting fussy, and Steve is over it after about 3 minutes. This is why we do not do child portraits in our photography business. The boss does not have the patience for it. If the kids start fussing at all, he thinks it is totally outrageous to keep trying to get a good shot. So after about 20 minutes, we did get some good individual pics of the boys. But the only good one of the two of them together is where they are looking up and to the side at me acting like a crazy person and playing peek a boo and "I'm gonna get you" and jumping up and down and singing all at the same time. I just needed to be a little closer to the camera for this technique to work.

So as we are leaving the park, Steve says, "Why don't you go ahead and keep your appointment at the mall?". Seriously people, there are professionals for this type of thing. Don't try this on your own if you want to keep your sanity! Take your kids to a contained environment where they have tons of stuff to keep their attention and someone else get's to jump around looking like an idiot!