Family Session Bloopers | Maine Family Portrait Photography

Maine Family Portrait Outtakes

As a Maine family photographer, I have seen the best and the worst in many families’ children. Sometimes a session is smooth sailing and others times, not so much. But even the best behaved child(ren) and adults can provide some really funny reactions and poses that make for a good chuckle. I always say that we, as parents, should embrace our kids as they are now. No single child is the same and no single session is easy. I have my work cut out for me even for the most “well behaved” kids. It helps if parents are calm and just go with the flow because eventually the kiddo comes around. I mean, sometimes that might require a cracker or a promise to play in the sand after, but all the same. Here are some of my favorite outtakes from some of the families that I photographed last year. The good, the bad, and the just funny.

For instance, sometimes your littlest sister just wants to be a scary monster while carrying her bun-bun through the woods. (click)
And throwing sand IS as much fun as it sounds… even more so when you are all dressed up. (click)
Waves crashing on the rocks can be a bit over-the-top and make it hard to concentrate. (click)
When you ask for a photo of “just the two of you,” all of the kids within a 1-2 block radius will come flocking to photobomb you. (click)
Reindeer (in this case he was aptly named Rudy) are sometimes not very cooperative (like standing up straight) and need to be removed promptly. (click)
Younger siblings can make this “quick shot” take longer than expected. (click)
Sometimes little guys need to make sure mom isn’t hiding any candy in her mouth…(click)
Your kids might be more interested in their shoes than smiling for a group photograph, and that’s OK, too. Seriously, sitting still is such a snore! (click)
Sometimes your sister is annoying. (click)
Poop happens. (click)

And, boogers and itchy noses are a thing. (click)
Shoes are overrated … (click)

… like really overrated. (click)

Dabbing can be an important part of your portrait session. (click)
Maybe you wanted to read a particular book but your brother picked out a stupid book and now you can’t be bothered with life. It happens. (click)
The sillies happen at so many sessions, too. This session in particular was the best case of the sillies. When your kid gets the sillies, just roll with it. Trust me. (And not all of the images turn out like this one. Some are a different kind of perfection!) (click)
Sometimes that “thing” that will make your kid smile doesn’t work like it does the other 99.9% of the time. Just because. (His face is a good summary of how I feel right before the holidays are over.) (click)

Moms are always trying to sneak in a kiss or two. Laughter is the reaction we want (and sometimes don’t want!) when we are trying to kiss someone. In this case, I think it worked out well. LOL (click)

I don’t have any words for this one other than it’s one of my most favorite outtakes from last summer. (click)
Group hugs are the best. Even more so when adult children have a long running joke about how short mom is and then accentuate this fact with said group hug and mom nearly disappears. (click)

Kids like to hide. This often happens towards the end of a session (thankfully) and in this case he got a little stuck so I thought commemorating it with a click of the shutter was appropriate. (click)

Life is just hard sometimes. Especially when you’re almost 2. (click)
No. (click)

Sometimes kids just H A T E that “stupid” shirt that mom picked out and they get a little dramatic. Roll with it. (click)
Again, kids like to hide and be sneaky/silly. Be an angsty teenager. Whatever the mood… That portrait will be memorable. (click)
Oops. I took too long. At least he thought so! (click)
Siblings love to be silly together…. (click)
or just downright not nice to each other. (click)
Smiling can be hard. I like to give kids a few breaks where they can act like crazy people in front of the cameras and give them individual attention to be a ham (if they want to be). It almost always renders gems like this: (click)
And don’t feel bad if you need to bribe your kid(s) with cookies. It happens to the best of us. (click)
And kids aren’t always the silly ones. Sometimes mom and dad get a little goofy, too. (click)
And remember, when it rains, it pours, but in the end, there might be / will be a rainbow!!  (click) (click) (click)

Kids are crazy. They’re silly and they are DEFINITELY unpredictable. They’re going to make faces, cry, laugh uncontrollably, play, be grumpy, demand food, want a nap… I always tell families, just roll with it. I like to capture the in-between stuff, too. If this is how your kid is NOW, cherish it. Next year, hell, even next week, they could be completely different. Looking back on these images later down the road will make you happy and remember what they were like at this point in time. Even if they cry through the entire session (which, knock on wood, hasn’t actually happened) or even part of it, it’s who they are at this point. Even if they have the giggles – perfect! You can all laugh along with them or just look at them strangely.

A couple of years ago I had portraits taken of my own family (like I do every year) and my then 2-year-old cried and cried at first. And you know what? There was one picture of him alone just crying his eyes out… and I used it for the front of the holiday card with the words “Be Joyful” across the front. People loved it and my family still gets a good laugh out of it. (Thanks to my pal, Siobhan, at Maine Tinker Photography for this gem!)