A Book, a Boy, and his Sis (Asheville child photographer)

With every session involving kids, my main focus is to make sure they have fun. When they do, the smiles are natural, the photos look great, and mom and dad are happy.

So when a child shows up with a favorite item or with “interesting” suggestions for a pose or three, I go with it. Like the super cool boy below. First off, this kid will do something amazing one day…find a cure for a disease, design a mission to Mars, something…trust me. Conversations with him can easily go beyond what a normal elementary student should know and can quickly make an adult feel like a complete imbecile.  (Yes, I had to look up how to spell “imbecile.” Oh the irony.) So when this voracious reader showed up with a book, I knew it had to be worked in. The photo below soon became one of my favorites.

And then you have his sweet, beautiful little sister who happily followed along to all of her big brother’s suggestions. Sword fight with sticks? Why not. Running full-speed toward the photographer? Sure. Ninja jumps off the bench? She nailed it.

Some of the photos I took based on big brother’s direction were not what I would call “photo worthy.” But instead of saying, “no,” we snapped a few of what he wanted and quickly moved on to what I knew would work. And some of his did end up being pretty good like his serious, “I am one cool dude” look from behind his glasses.

So if you’re ready to schedule family photos but are worried about how the kids will act, don’t be. I can handle the rowdiest of the crew and have them exhausted and smiling by the end. Not bad for an hour’s worth of your time.