Nothing like a good little bribe...

heatherfeather

A couple of weeks ago I found the worlds greatest incentive for my daughter: dresses. She loves to wear them every single day and has a ton of them. I made a rule that she could wear them all she wanted if her room was clean, and it has worked miracles! It is always tidy now!

I thought I would try it out for photos this morning. Her room was already clean so that was good, but I held the prize before her- if I let her wear one of her extra nice dresses, she would let me take a few photos of her outside in them. Well it worked smashingly and it bought me about 15 minutes to work with. Not bad really.

It bought me:
1. A cute little open smile



2. A shot of her thinking pose. She does this all the time when ever she has options to consider. i.e... which pair of shoes match which outfit. She always says "hmmmm" while making this face.


3. And a chance to show off bookeh...

4. And she had to have one with her favorite playmate, Lucy. (The stroller was definately her choice)



Don't you love it how other people pay us to take their photo, and your kids sort of do the opposite?

C & C appreciated...

VayCayMom

Very NICE!! And what a lovely young lady she is. I love them all, the stroller kinda bugs me but you are a wonderful Mom to let her be creative in her own way!!

blaser321

These bribes might get expansive I know have a 17 and a 19 year old daughters It's worth it
I like 1 & 3 the best

heatherfeather

VayCayMom wrote:

Very NICE!! And what a lovely young lady she is. I love them all, the stroller kinda bugs me but you are a wonderful Mom to let her be creative in her own way!!

Thanks! She loves that darn stroller. She is about the cutest 6 year old on the planet.

heatherfeather

blaser321 wrote:

These bribes might get expansive I know have a 17 and a 19 year old daughters It's worth it
I like 1 & 3 the best

Tell me about it... my 8 year old has been asking for a laptop for the last 6 months... (haha they start early)
Thanks!

Photosbychuck

Adorable shots

They grow up so fast.

Take Care,
Chuck

Scott_Quier

I absolutely love #3bow - that is just so ... Oh, I don't know the words!

rhondavid

Great shots of your precious little girl, I wish my seven yr old loved to wear dress but that is not one of here favorite clothing items.

All the shots are great but I think the third one is my favorite. the light and background are great and love the expression.

mmmatt

Oh boy... you got yourself a full-on girlie girl there! Nice shots Heather. As you are doing family pics, don't forget that your daughter will want some of you with her. As photographers we all tend to stay on the other side of the camera, but as important and meaningful as these pics are to you, some of you and her together will be just as important to her. [/preacher mode]

Matt

divamum

mmmatt wrote:

Oh boy... you got yourself a full-on girlie girl there! Nice shots Heather. As you are doing family pics, don't forget that your daughter will want some of you with her. As photographers we all tend to stay on the other side of the camera, but as important and meaningful as these pics are to you, some of you and her together will be just as important to her. [/preacher mode]

Matt

You're not kidding - I want some of my family together so badly, but we never seem to get any!!

Heather, she is SOOoooOOOOOOO adorable! Man, I wish I'd thought of using dresses as a bribe - A is too old for that now, but there was a time. Hmm - what can you offer an 11 year old to keep her room clean??!!?? D

I absolutely love #2 - #3 is a gorgeous portrait, but I bet #2 is the one you'll look back on and think, "Yep - that was her age 6!".

heatherfeather

Photosbychuck wrote:

Adorable shots

They grow up so fast.

Take Care,
Chuck

It is so true! I can't believe that she is so big.
Thanks Chuck-

heatherfeather

Scott_Quier wrote:

I absolutely love #3bow - that is just so ... Oh, I don't know the words!

I am surprised all of you don't dig me on the flash on that one. I had it up a bit hotter than I was plannin' but it still is a fun shot. (Of course with her for a subject, what can you do to screw it up?!- a mom's prejudice, I guess. )

heatherfeather

rhondavid wrote:

Great shots of your precious little girl, I wish my seven yr old loved to wear dress but that is not one of here favorite clothing items.

All the shots are great but I think the third one is my favorite. the light and background are great and love the expression.

I don't know how I got girls that love dresses- especially since when I was little I was not a big fan. Maybe I just lucked out? Who knows, but I doubt it will last through Highschool.

heatherfeather

mmmatt wrote:

Oh boy... you got yourself a full-on girlie girl there! Nice shots Heather. As you are doing family pics, don't forget that your daughter will want some of you with her. As photographers we all tend to stay on the other side of the camera, but as important and meaningful as these pics are to you, some of you and her together will be just as important to her. [/preacher mode]

Matt

Love your funny little preacher mode coding. that made me laugh out loud!

Thanks for the reminder.. I think perhaps I need to find a local photographer to do some family photos for us. Maybe a trade? Hmmmm Sounds like a great plan! (Though I confess it would FREAK me out to shoot for another photographer.. ha ha) Or I could just finally get a remote shutter release for the 5D and do them myself.
Thanks for the reminder Matt

heatherfeather

divamum wrote:

You're not kidding - I want some of my family together so badly, but we never seem to get any!!

Heather, she is SOOoooOOOOOOO adorable! Man, I wish I'd thought of using dresses as a bribe - A is too old for that now, but there was a time. Hmm - what can you offer an 11 year old to keep her room clean??!!?? D

I absolutely love #2 - #3 is a gorgeous portrait, but I bet #2 is the one you'll look back on and think, "Yep - that was her age 6!".

My older kids are not nearly so easily bought... Though "friends over" is a big one. Even then my 10 year old has to keep his door closed at ALL times to help me with my sanity. (It only MOSTLY works ) I think you are right about #2... It is definately "her".

Scott_Quier

heatherfeather wrote:

I am surprised all of you don't dig me on the flash on that one. I had it up a bit hotter than I was plannin' but it still is a fun shot. (Of course with her for a subject, what can you do to screw it up?!- a mom's prejudice, I guess. )

The monitor I'm on right now tends to show things a bit brighter than they really are and I didn't notice it being too hot. Even going back to it again, I think the flash is well within aesthetic bounds - it's a sweet shot!

jeffreaux2

2,3,and 4 for me.....and especially 3.

Im not a fan of crossed arms in portraits.....usually....but wonder what 3 might look like with crossed arms?

FWIW....laptops are cheaper than cars.

But it wont be that long in the grand scheme of things.:D

GemGem

These are great! I love #3 and 4. and yea.. my kids run away when they see me with the camera. Thank goodness my two year old doesn't mind... yet!

WingsOfLovePhoto

I'm lovin the 3rd one!. How grown up she looks! Keep her little as long as you can! my baby girl turns 20 next month....