My daughter is one of the hardest kids to get a good picture of. At 3 years of age (4 in a couple weeks), she is a non-stop dynamo of energy that never seems to stop. That energy is magnified even more when we are exploring a new (to her) place.
This past weekend she decided she wanted to go see Red Rocks – as in the Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre, but famous by the U2 video in the 80′s. It is actually a pretty popular hangout among people in Denver, there were a lot of people using it for a workout today (running up and down the stairs and “seats” is a popular workout).
Natalie was in explorer mode today, so she wanted to go all the way down to the bottom and look around. I was able to convince her to pose for me a little bit at the top first though. As she gets older, she is starting to enjoy being in front of the camera. Later in the day she told me I should be taking pictures of her splashing in the puddles left by the rain.
I haven’t shot any families with little kids other than my own, but my advice would be to be patient, follow the little ones around, and shoot a lot of pics to get the keepers. It’s kind of like shooting sports. They are that unpredictable and fast paced.
Hi Chester,
I have many similar experiences with my daughter (now 12). She was camera shy and now is just camera annoyed. But like you say a little patience works. I also had good luck with her and some friends playing “camera tag” where they would run around and try to look at me and look away before I could snap a photo.
Take care,
John
You have a great outlook on kids. I am sure you are a wonderful father. your daughter is darling. great job. Cathy