HELP! Photo Shoot with a 2yr old!

BCSPhotoguy

Hi all, I have been a fan of this forum for a while but never posted anything! I shoot mainly Motorsports and action sports.

Heres the deal..... A good friend is turning 40 and I want to give him some pictures of his 2 yr old son & him. Do some updated family shots while were at it.

The problem is I have a few ideas - only a few. I need some experts out there to say "Hey, try this"! I am not looking to copy anyones work - but expand my limited knowledge of Portraits & Candids! The shoot will be outside this weekend. I figure a 2 yr old and leaves.. I cant go wrong!

So, Any thoughts?!?!! All are appreciated.

ChatKat

Think like a two year old!
Instead of telling the two year old to pose for you, engage the little one by playing with him, singing with him and rewarding him. I use a feather duster that's colorful and interests them to get attention. A Kazoo or party noise maker always works and bubbles too. Think more that you are playing then you capture the play.

Sam

Great ideas!!

I need to remember this.

Sam

D'Buggs

I just completed a shoot w/ a 2 yo kiddy, in studio.... The little beggar wanted to run EVERYWHERE! What I did was, I sat him on a stool and had mom engage him with stuffy-toys - Some she actually tossed at him that led to wonderfull expressions that I focused on. The lg stool kept him from running around and the shoot turned out fantastic!

Moogs12

I am no expert but...

BCSPhotoguy wrote:

Hi all, I have been a fan of this forum for a while but never posted anything! I shoot mainly Motorsports and action sports.

Heres the deal..... A good friend is turning 40 and I want to give him some pictures of his 2 yr old son & him. Do some updated family shots while were at it.

The problem is I have a few ideas - only a few. I need some experts out there to say "Hey, try this"! I am not looking to copy anyones work - but expand my limited knowledge of Portraits & Candids! The shoot will be outside this weekend. I figure a 2 yr old and leaves.. I cant go wrong!

So, Any thoughts?!?!! All are appreciated.

Here are a few that I did for my cousin a couple weeks ago. Her daughter is just a littler over 2 years old...They are nothing fancy, just went out to the park and walked around and took a bunch of pictures with a little "staging" as possible.

BCSPhotoguy

Thats awesome guys! thanks for the help so far!! Keep em coming!!!!

THanks for the photo examples - one of ideas was to the parents in the back just like No.1! Good to see it on the screen.

Thanks again!

Moogs12

BCSPhotoguy wrote:

Thats awesome guys! thanks for the help so far!! Keep em coming!!!!

THanks for the photo examples - one of ideas was to the parents in the back just like No.1! Good to see it on the screen.

Thanks again!

I like taking pictures of kids because I enjoy just saying go run, play have a good time and I'll take pictures. Having a two year old outside and trying to get a lot of poses in is hard. I find the kids look much more comfortable and happy when you just let them do their thing. Now, if you get a really calm child, maybe you can get some good posed shots.

Tell him to jump in the leaves, throw them in the air, roll around and what you may find is that every minute or two you can say "Let me take your picture real quick" and he or she will give you a big goofy smile and go back to playing. If you force it on him or her, it will be much harder to get in natural looking "fun" smiles. Just my opinion though

Dancer72

with Moogs12...using the leaves works well, also helps run out some of the energy so you can get a few calm ones in during his "rest period". I have one from a few years ago where the Dad is lying down & both kids (~3yrs & 18 months) decided to sit on him & cover him with leaves; We got some really great shots from that session!

Two can be tough cause there attention span is 2-3 minutes, maybe 5 if you're lucky. They do want to run around alot, but sometimes that's when you get the best pictures. ChatKat make a good point about using rewards - I find food (no M&Ms) works well with 2 yr olds cause it's instant gratification. If he & Dad have a favorite sport, you might be able to use your sports experience and catch them in action playing together (I know my son loves to throw the football around with my husband, and inevitably it ends up in a tackle into the leaves).

Another thing to try is engaging him through things/shows/movies he likes...Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Diego, Buzz Lightyear, things along those lines. Ask him to pretend to be one of them & have Dad join in however he sees fit (ex: Woody to his Buzz).

Just my 2 cents...Hope you find something that helps! Good Luck...looking forward to seeing some of your shots!