It’s almost New Years, and you know what that means.  It’s the time of year when we make resolutions, and if you are a photographer, you might be resolving to take more pictures of your own kids.  I know that is my resolution – to document more of those unrehearsed, everyday moments.  However, if you are the type who loves the unrehearsed, but gets sweaty at the thought of a more styled shoot, you might find yourself too overwhelmed to start.

My advice?  Don’t plan.  At all.  Just go do it.  Grab your kids (or just some of them), put them in something nice, and just go. Keep it moving, make it fun, and make it short.  Hopefully, you’ll end up with kids who are not at their wits’ end, and a bunch of gorgeous pictures to show for it.

I know, I know.  In a perfect world.  😉

Back in late November, when I walked my two youngest to school each day, I saw one of the streets on our block was vibrant with color from the Fall leaves.  I decided I must photograph my kids there.  So, one day, without planning, I found outfits that were sufficient (as in, I grabbed them from the closet, they looked clean and the colors sort of matched), and my two most cooperative subjects, and we walked to the block.  We spent about five minutes under the trees on the road, another two or three minutes throwing leaves in the air from the sidewalk, and as we were circling the block to return home, we stopped on one more colorful sidewalk.  Fifteen minutes used, we were back home.  I had a camera full of images, and my kids were cashing in on their bribes.