Shields Family » Portrait Session » New Orleans Audubon Park

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this session for a while, as it’s such a great “real life” example of family portraits with babies and young toddlers. You know, sometimes they just don’t want to sit still for even one second, and that’s ok! I’m always happy to chase kids around, and get on the ground, to try to capture the essence of what your children are truly, unapologetically like at this age, without getting them to “say cheese”. Their younger baby, of course, was all smiles and giggles!

I really admired the way these parents gently tried redirecting their toddler without a hint of frustration. They were fully aware of the kinds of shots we were getting, and not getting, and it didn’t phase them one bit. Honestly, I know I’ve said this before, but these in-between moments are the kinds of photos that, as a photographer, I truly love. I was thankful they didn’t try to force anything, and I think you’ll see the beauty in that decision, as it made an opportunity for their love and kindness to shine through. This session includes some of my favorite behind-the-scenes parenting photos.

They left me these kind words in their review:

Dani was so professional, thoughtful, and flexible for our family pictures. She made every step of the way easy for us. Even when weather impacted our plans, she thought of creative solutions and made sure we got what we wanted. Highest recommendation!!!

We started off with this happy little one, who was content to sit, crawl, and walk with some assistance.

At this point, we tried our first family grouping, which just immediately didn’t work. Not to worry, we had plenty of time in their session, so we decided to let him continue to run off some steam, while getting some portraits of him exploring Audubon Park.

Our second attempt at a family grouping went a little better. We didn’t get a smile, but look at that expression, haha! It didn’t last long. This was when I really started to see both Mom and Dad’s gentle parenting come through, as they calmly tried to redirect, sing some favorite songs, and otherwise not let themselves get flustered in the least. Look at the genuine love in their interactions.

This picture says so much.

We were getting towards the end of our session, so we tried another family grouping, but it didn’t really come together. So we threw it out the window, and got this next couple of playful family shots instead:

Of course, I always like to include a moment just for Mom and Dad. After all, their love is the root of the family!

Shields Family » Portrait Session » New Orleans Audubon Park

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