Taking photographs of so many children, I can tell you some things. No child is alike and no children are the same even from the same parents. Recently, a question pops in my head about the age. What age is the best to take a meaningful picture of your children?
I start to believe that there are stages in your child’s life which you can capture, to create a very memorable childhood for your child. I am not the expert, yet but watching my children grow I see that age 5 is a big age in development and age 8 is a time when they are starting to become more self-absorbed.
Why do I think age 5 is the best time? I practiced it with my middle child last year. What I noticed is, at this particular age kids are starting to understand who they are, but they don’t have enough ability to copy someone else yet. They may do few poses that they have seen somewhere but they are quickly return to themselves. Children tend to remember many things at this age and start to understand their likes and dislikes. This is a first stage of a little person who will show you of what kind of person it will become. Prior to that age, kids usually do things that parents ask them to do. Parents usually ask a photographer to do a children photography based on their likes from ideas they have seen on Pinterest or other websites. Maybe even ask the photographer to come up with their own ideas. Yes it’s a cute picture. It set up to your fullest satisfaction but this is not capturing the individual spirit of your child. It won’t really tell you who your child was. It just tells you that you child is as cute as the model on the idea you saw online.
If you allow your child to be who they are and show what they like at age five. You will be amazed that they can be either way, they may be to open for your ideas or be to shy. Playing during a session is the best way to capture beautiful photos of your child. This age they are open and playful and kind and just little angels. You don’t need much to set up for that. Just let them be who they are and you may be surprise of what they can show to you.
