Even for those who love the camera and the camera loves them, it’s a difficult task to look natural with a 200 mm Canon lens (weighing in at 1.69 pounds and almost 5.5 inches long), staring at them.  Keep this in mind when kids won’t cooperate during a family photography session.

My associate photographer Kenneth and I had a fun little adventure with Goliath Games early this year. A lifestyle photography session for a large corporation is not something we do every week, so it was something fun and challenging. We had talent coming and going all day, from toddlers to moms and dads and everything in between. Their job was easy… or was it? Sure, they got to sit and play games or at least pretend to follow the rules. 

Kenneth, Kristin, Jenny and I have Dallas, Plano and everywhere in between head shots down to a beautiful combination of science, human interaction and lighting. By getting to know our clients really well even before the first shutter release, we are able to accomplish genuine smiles and eye twinkles. You know, those shots where grandmas, husbands, wives, moms and dads would say, “That’s him,” “Now that a look we know really well,” “It’s amazing how this portrays her sweet side, but you can still see the sass.”

These images, which will be donning the boxes of board games from Sequence (my top choice) at Target to Pop the Pig (Kenneth’s fave) available at Barnes & Nobel to Amazon’s selection, required a bit of a learning curve for all of us. We all got better and smarter as we made our way through the  two-day shoot. With each new group, it took awhile for them to get into the groove. Those 7 and younger were easily bored, a couple of teenagers were questioning what their parents had signed them up to do (on a day off school, nonetheless), and well those with a competitive nature struggled to find the fun in “pretending to play.” However, after a few minutes in, our models ended up not only looking natural for the camera, but genuinely had a great time. 

I am willing to guess that most didn’t wait for their checks, in the form of board games, to come in before dashing out to their local retailer or to their game closet and setting up to challenge their friends and family. It was a beautiful reminder that playing together sans the electronics, brings people closer together.