The time is NOW, stop making excuses – Amanda Lynn Photography – Katy, TX Photographer

There is no time like the present. The time is NOW to take those pictures.

Ok, I’ll be honest with you. I am just like everyone else who I talk to when it comes to getting pictures done. I make all the excuses why I shouldn’t be in the pictures from needing to get my hair done, I don’t have anything to wear, etc, etc. Here’s the thing, time FLIES by! When my kids were first born, everyone who I’d see would tell me, “Enjoy these moments, you’ll blink and your kids will be graduating high school”! At the time, I didn’t really get it, but now I do. These kids change daily, so you can’t wait to take that picture!

Those of you who know me, and for those of you who don’t, me and my family are from Canada. We moved to Houston when my son was 3 months old. It was the hardest decision to make. We left our entire family, our support system and everything we’ve ever known. I don’t look back and have ANY regrets as I truly believe everything happens for a reason. When we have family come to town, we sure make the best of it! We usually keep pretty busy, soaking up every minute we can with each other. My mom flew into town last week while my husband was away on business. It is always so nice to have her here. I knew I wanted to take nice pictures of her and the kids. The ones we have are so outdated, and from now on, I will make a point of doing this every time we have company. We decided on a day once she got here and started getting things together. The day we were set to take pictures, she said, “Amanda, you need to be in these pictures, just set up the tripod!” After almost refusing, using every excuse in the book why NOT, I decided to bring my tripod. I am SO glad that I did. Let me tell you, it sure wasn’t easy getting in focus shots or the moments that I get with all of my clients, but these pictures will forever have a special place in my heart.

When my daughter was born, we discovered she had a very rare birth mark only that is passed down from a family member. It’s called a Simian Line. We discovered that my mom had it and nobody else! Pretty cool is you ask me! According to good ol’ google, here what it say about it. “Simian means “monkey-like”, which might not sound very nice, it is also referred to as the single palmar crease by palm readers. A palm with the masukakeline is said to be the mark of a conqueror. People who have this palm line supposedly demonstrate superior leadership skills and were born with great talents.” I think this says A LOT about my daughters personality, haha.

I mentioned to you all in my Facebook post that I would give you my tips on taking pictures of your own kids! They aren’t much different than how I take pictures of my clients with younger children, so here they are.

5 Tips on taking pictures of your kids

1. Have them be a part of the process. My kids are at the age where they have an opinion about what they want to wear, and how they want to look. I love that!! However, I know that when it comes to choosing outfits for a photo shoot, they might not always want to wear what you want them too. For my daughter, I gave her many choices. Black boots or brown boots? Hair in a pony or a braid? And of course she picked her brightest pink lipstick. Not my first choice, haha, but this is HER and I will always remember that when looking at these pictures. My son is a little easier going. I gave him a couple shirt options and he chose.
2. Be excited with them! Before and on our way to take pictures, I try and get them excited. I tell them where we are going and what they might see. I tell them we are going on a little adventure and that we are going to have so much fun! Of course all of this is true. For all of my sessions, I try and take my clients on mini adventures. We walk around the location a little, stopping at different spots to take pictures. For the younger kids we might find some cool rocks, or flowers, etc.
3. NO BRIBES!! I always save the treats for the very end, but it’s always a surprise.
4. Let them take the charge. If it’s getting to the point where you think they are losing focus, I let them take the charge….a little. I ask where they want to go see and we go. We check out the spot then I find some pretty light and we take a few shots! It works out every time.
5. No when to be done. I always want these to be fun. Either with my kids or with my clients, I want them to remember how much fun they had! When I see that it’s just time to be done, we stop. I always thank them for letting me take pictures of them, and I tell them how excited I am to see them!

Sometimes, as a photographer, our own families get put on the back burner for nice photos. We either have times when our own kids are super cooperative, or completely NOT! I sure know that I’M not in the picture as much as I’d like. Let’s make a promise to each other. I’m going to make a point of capturing me and my family, as we are, TODAY! Will you do the same??