The photographers that we used for Henry’s newborn shots and for our family photos last year are no longer in business (sniff, sniff) so this year we were on our own. Being a photographer, I figured that I could just take care of it myself. It couldn’t be that hard to do self-portraits, right?
Oh the naïveté!
Actually, my idea wasn’t a bad one and it would have totally worked too, except for the fact that we have a 21 month old who had other ideas. Don’t believe me? Take a look at our first attempt:
First, the set up. I couldn’t find the attachment for my tripod so I had to use our outside grill as a stand for my camera. Then I forgot how to set the timer. Perhaps that’s why Henry quickly lost interest and really, who could blame him?
So by the time I pressed “go” and ran over to my seat, Henry had one foot out of there.
His other foot quickly followed.
I had set the camera to take nine shots in a row so that hopefully at least one of them would turn out.
I didn’t count on us losing one of our participants midway through, however.
Me: ”Henry? Henry… listen to your momma – come back and smile at the camera.”
Henry: “What camera?”
Henry: ”Oh, that camera!”
Yeah, the first attempt didn’t go so well. Neither did the second. But by the third we were at least able to hold him still long enough to get a shot of the three of us together. The CPA had to tickle Henry the whole time just to get him to sit still, but at least we were all there. (Note to self: wear socks next time. No one needs to see my white feet.)
After that I decided to just take pictures of the boys. Who needs to see pictures of me anyway?
Especially when you’ve got a cutie like this to look at.
And this cutie too, definitely prefer looking at him!
Oh wait, how did this get in here?
That’s what happens when I let the CPA hold my camera for me.
So the moral of the story is: if you want family portraits and you want to include your toddler in them, hire a professional. It will help you keep your sanity and you’ll probably get some pretty good pictures as a bonus.
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