Thanksgiving recipe for family portrait:
Family assembled in one place from across the country. Check. Wardrobe coordinated in complementary, but not too matchy-matchy colors. Check. Elegantly furnished and alarmingly tidy house. Not a prerequisite, but check. Remarkably sweet and accomodating family who didn’t freak out when overzealous photographer knocked on door three weeks in advance to scout out backyard and assess lighting needs. Check, thank goodness. Crazy adorable kids. Double check.
An essential skill for families taking pictures with young children is for the adults to be able to relax and not be stressed about getting their kids to smile. The danger is ending up with a bunch of pictures of the kids looking charming, but the adults are looking frustrated or have their faces turned away from the camera as they coax or threaten their children. Fortunately, this family had mastered the skill of remaining photo-ready while the kids were being kids. And the kids were actually wonderfully behaved, considering the strangers who invaded their grandparents’ homes were popping big lights in their faces, and they had to be dressed and ready to go at what would have been 7 a.m. in their own time zone.
The seven-year-old boy was especially impressive, as he would reach out and tickle his sister to try to get her to smile, all the while keeping his own smiling face toward the camera.
That level of photogenic mastery is usually not achieved by most of the adults I photograph. (When my eldest child tried to get his toddler brother to smile, the younger child tried to bite him.)
The four-year-old girl was not only able to drop her guard once she got used to the camera, but also showed she understood much more Mandarin than I ever did. The parents offered bribes both in Mandarin and English. Graeter’s was a key element.
The family was only all together for a very brief time for the Thanksgiving holiday, and the kids’ uncle actually needed to leave for the airport soon after our session. I was glad that we could commemorate the time together and get a mix of family pictures in and around their homestead. And there was just enough time remaining for the parents to take the kids out for lunch and their ice cream reward!
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