What if My Kids Misbehave in a Family Photo Session?

Over time, your family members will grow older – infants become toddlers, tweens become teens. Aside from physical growth, your family may grow in numbers if you choose to have more beautiful children. 

Booking family photo sessions regularly is a fantastic way to keep track of how your family grows over the years. Much later in life, you’ll look back fondly at these photos, thanking yourself for booking these photo sessions.

If you’re preoccupied talking to your spouse, consulting the photographer, or fixing your hair, your kids may feel left out or ignored; thus, they may try to get your attention by throwing a tantrum, running about, or making loud noises. 

Even though your kids know their tantrums will attract negative attention, it’s attention nonetheless.

As children grow up and begin to do more things on their own, they may wish to demonstrate their new skills and abilities. If you have a tween or a teen, you know just how argumentative and rebellious they may be at times. It’s important to understand that they may not wish to disrespect you; instead, they want to show they can think for themselves.

If you’re bringing your toddler to a long photography session, they may be misbehaving because they have unmet needs and can’t communicate this to you yet. Often, young children may misbehave when they feel tired or hungry. I always tell the importance of the happy well rested children, it is essential for a succesful family or sitter photography session.

Before anything else, it’s essential to understand not to shame or shout at your kids during or after the family photography session. You may be embarrassed that the people at the studio see your kids misbehave. But remember that the photographer and their team work with children all the time and are very much used to dealing with more “active” children.

 Try the tips below rather than choosing to punish your children emotionally or physically.

Once in a while, letting your child be a little too playful is fine; it’s how they expend excess energy. And if you jump in early to intervene, you may make them upset and cause them to stir up more trouble.

 Of course, you’ll need to step in if you’re not getting anywhere in terms of the family photo session. However, when it comes to what action to take, you’ll need to keep in mind the possible reasons for misbehavior, as discussed earlier. Not all situations are the same, so you’ll need to think about the reason behind your child’s misbehavior. 

If your child’s upset during family photography session, it’s hard not to get upset, too. But children – especially younger ones – are particularly sensitive to the moods of their parents. In fact, they may imitate how you deal with your emotions. If you show and express negative emotions, your child may not take it too well. So, it’s essential to manage your temper – at least for the sake of your child’s cognitive and emotional development.

Maintaining eye contact when talking to people is important – talking to kids is no exception. When your kids are being hyperactive, establishing eye contact with them is an immediate step you can take to calm your child. It works by ensuring your child is paying attention to you and by letting your child know you’re paying attention to them, too; give and receive.

If you don’t look your kid in the eye, there’s a good chance they won’t listen to what you’re saying and are less likely to calm down.

Children are highly motivated by rewards. If they know they’re going to get something good out of an action, they’re more likely to perform that action; thus, if your kids are behaving well during your family photo session, it would be best to reward them – even if the reward isn’t immediate. For example, you could promise to buy them ice cream after the session finishes. This is the most useful trick, that works in most of the cases.

Little kids might misbehave in a family photo session. As mentioned earlier, it’s important to reward your kids (sparingly) if they behave appropriately in the studio. Likewise, it’s also important to teach your children that their actions have consequences.

Earlier, we mentioned that you should choose your battles. If your child’s behavior during the photo session is getting out of hand, then you can punish them. In the case of a studio photoshoot, one possible example would be a timeout. Have fun for a few minutes during the photoshoot while excluding your misbehaving child. The child will feel left out and will learn that bad behavior won’t get them anywhere. Afterward, of course, let the child join back in. 

Instead of punishing them during the photo session itself, you can set aside their punishment for later. For example, you could let your kids know that if they continue to misbehave during the photo session, you’ll take away their TV privileges for the rest of the day. Doing this gives them the chance to correct their behavior during the photoshoot (assuming they want to watch their favorite TV show when they get home).

Dora Horvath Photography creates beautiful family portraits in Manchester, Cheshire, and beyond. I understand the power of print and the importance of capturing memories. If you’re looking for an experienced photographer for your family portrait, contact Dora Horvath Photography today.

 Now, you understand how to deal with misbehaving kids during a family photo session. When you work with me, your session will be more stress-free. I understands that every child is unique and, thus, implements plenty of breaks throughout a photo shoot. I ‘ll do my best to make sure your kids are having fun and that the rest of the family enjoys the experience, too.

For a kid-friendly family photo session, contact Dora Horvath Photography today.