This little girl did amazingly for being a first-time model. I usually tell the parents at the beginning of the shoot to stay away from saying words like S-M-I-L-E or P-I-C-T-U-R-E (I spell it out so that the kids don’t understand).

Fascinated with the sky.

This shoot was done at the Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn, NY. Most of the photos were taken with the 85mm 1.2 Canon lens and some were taken with the 50mm.

When the child is small enough (and their parents only take pictures with a point-and-shoot camera), they may not recognize that the big dSLR camera that you holding to your eye is even a camera, so they might not even realize that they are being taken pictures of. My goal is for them to act totally naturally (and not to force-smile or pose) so I’d rather them not know that I’m holding a camera.

I also LOVE interacting with kids myself and find it a fun challenge to distract them and make them go and do where I want them to. With 2 year olds, like Ta’ana, it’s often enough to get them on your side, and then do exactly what you want them to copy.