PHOTOGRAPHY? OR … PSYCHOLOGY?

People ask me HOW I get kids (or babies/toddlers/teenagers/pets/HUSBANDS) to cooperate during my sessions. What magic settings or filters or drugs do I use to make it look like they’re having FUN?

Here’s the secret.

I don’t. Not really.

Photos are magic in the sense that they capture a fraction of a second in time. It only takes ONE fraction of a second to capture what I’m looking for – that flash of pure joy your toddler emits when he’s deep in play, for example.

But really, we’ve got lots of fractions of lots of seconds to work with here. And there are LOTS of things we want to capture, right? Toddlers (and babies and teenagers and pets and husbands) are complicated, multi-faceted creatures. We want to remember what this chapter of your life feels like to you, and we want to remember alll of it.

So, the process itself is not magic. But there are some tricks.

The tricks are psychology and time.

You and I will talk about the attitudinal approaches that will best convince your toddler (or baby/teenager/pet/husband) that my visit (and the time you’ve set aside to spend as a family) is the BEST THING they’ve had the pleasure and honor of doing all year. It’ll be different for each age and stage. That’s the psychology part. (There are LOTS of strategies, but one is HERE).

And we’ll couple that with the luxury of time. I’m never in a hurry to finish my sessions. (Remember: this is what I LOVE to do). There’s never a timer running. If your kid needs to finish a puzzle (or your toddler needs to have a brief tantrum your your baby needs to nurse or your husband needs to take a quick call), there’s no need to stress. If it’s part of life, it’s part of what we capture. I’ve got some distraction techniques to keep things moving because I know there’s someone in your family whose attention span is going to expire, and we want to capture as many facets of your multi-faceted life as we can before that happens.

To help you “Remember this was Beautiful” — all of it.

Thanks for looking,

~ Jaye

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Jaye McLaughlin Photography specializes in documentary style lifestyle family and newborn photography in Westchester County, NYC, Connecticut and beyond.  I would love to begin planning your family photo session. View more of my work in my family portfolio HERE.  Check out some brand new sweetness in my newborn portfolio HERE. If you’re interested in a family, newborn or maternity session and would like to learn more, click HERE.  To get in touch, just go HERE, or email me or call me directly at jaye@jayemclaughlin.com or 914.263.0236.  I look forward to hearing from you!