We don’t get PERFECT days for sessions very often. There’s often something to battle in the Midwest (too cold, too hot, too humid, too dang windy), but this morning you guys, was absolute perfection. The sun wasn’t too high in the sky yet, and it even felt good as it hit your skin. It was a rare non-sweaty day, especially for August. Like perfect.

We arrived at the house ready to take advantage of this glorious day and sweet lil 2 year old “H” just wasn’t really keen on the objectives we and his parents had set established for our time together. He was feeling a bit shy and needed more snuggles and hugs than usual.

And you know what? THAT’S OKAY WITH US!

We want every parent out there to know that it’s okay when kiddos aren’t having an A-game day, or they seem more timid than usual. We’re not scared or deflated in the least when these things happen at your session. We know getting your picture taken is not an every-day event for littles and that how we as the grown-ups handle it makes all the difference. We know your hopes for our time together are filled with picture-perfect moments and full cooperation from all parties, but like, for real… how often to do things involving our sweet lil kiddos go as planned?

Take a look at the first image below. It’s one of the first things we got at this family’s session that day and we LOVE IT! We think there is something worth capturing in every moment. So the question begs to be asked, “Ok Mike and Julie, what do I DO when my kiddos aren’t feelin’ it at the session?”

You shift your expectations and let the moment in front of you simply unfold. You release your pre-set visions and play with your kiddos. You forget the camera and let your kiddos know THEY are more important to you than a set of picture-perfect images. You let them warm up in their own time.

We GUARANTEE you, if you let yourself lean in to the situation instead of push back against it, that we can see the magic happening and we’ll capture it.

The story we’ve shared below is a perfect example of parents being awesome when their sweet lil fella wasn’t ready. We obviously LOVE the first image, but we also want you to see how the session ended! Huge, humungous, gorgeous smiles from everyone! Bonus: tons of memories to keep forever of all of this family’s favorite things to do together.

Of course, we celebrated a successful session with an utterly delicious donut! 🙂