Last week, along with Diana came Emily. Emily’s parents wanted to see if their daughter would allow me to photograph her as she is very shy. Well, she was doing great posing for Diana’s mother point-and-shoot, but when she saw my big camera, she ran away! Well, I was up for the challenge! Knowing that she may feel more comfortable with Diana at first, I asked her to sit by the rail tracks with Diana for a few shots.

Sooner than she could say “cheese” she realized she was all alone in front of my camera and the shyness went away! From this point forward she wanted to imitate Diana in every way possible and would even give her some tips on posing!!! She was so cute to photograph! Enjoy the images below.

Photographing children is not about how they can or cannot pose. I often see parents become initially frustrated because they want their child to “pose” for the shot in a specific way. My answer to them is always the same: “Let them be…Let them get used to the environment and the camera.”  I believe that the best way to photograph children is by simply letting them be themselves without the force of a “pose” that may  cause agitation and even some tears. In the photos below, I did not, in any way, tell Emily how to pose. I merely placed her in the different places and she did the rest! Yes, sometimes a little help here an there is necessary, but children will express who they are without much effort if you are patient enough.

The shots above where really the “warm-up shots.” After these, Emily took charge of the whole thing! It was sooo much fun!

Well, Emily was stupendous! She did such a fabulous job during her first photo shoot! I would like to thank her parents for allowing her to come along and I hope we can do it again soon!