2 Year old Birthday Portraits

[knight22]

My son is turning two in April and my wife told me that she wanted me to try to get some portraits of him. It is impossible to get him to sit still to do any poses. Does anyone have any suggestions. Should I just take him to the park and shoot some photos there as he is playing? Anyone got any other ideas for two year old portraits?

Thanks

[swimchic]

Two year olds are tough, but they can be lots of fun too :) I have found the best thing to so with ages 1-3 is to get a few props that will keep them one place - since it's a birthday time, those big huge lolli pops are fun, or a chair or something that can play around with. Chairs are great because they can climb all over them. It's easiest if you get something that they have never seen before, then bring it our when you are completely set up, and act like it is the coolest thing in the world :)
Since it's your son, play the games he loves from behind the camera that you and him always do, like itsy bitsy spider or whatever, just get him interacting with you like always and act like the camera isn't even there.
Good luck! And Happy Birthday little one!

[Brookelyn]

I would plan on doing a couple of different sessions with him, it will help provide you with patience with him when he isn't cooperating and it will help you get some really great shots to choose from.

I would take him to an outdoor area that would provide good shots- we have a park around here without a playground but with picnic benches and a couple of pathways-- allowing him to walk around and climb without the distraction of the playground and other kids. Also, agreeing with above, props are great. Especially ones that are out of the ordinary and will really get his attention.

[Maureen Souza]

I always play the Hide behind the Camera game. "Where's Mima?" then stick my head out to one side and say "Here I am!". It entertains them for about 8-10 shots, then it is time for something else. And you get giggles and big smiles:)

[daduls]

The park would be great, it gets you outside so you can put the 300 end of that lens to work without your son feeling like you have a camera in his face.

[izy]

Do you have any relatives that live far away? Any relatives he loves?

My friend's son is gorgeous, and I've been fortunate enough to take photos of him on a number of occasions.

He loves his grandmother dearly, but she's a few hours drive away, so whenever I need to get him to give a posed picture I explain to him I think his grandmother would love to see some photos of him, and ask him to smile for grandma. It's cool to let kids look at the photos after you take them, now he's a bit older and can talk properly, he'll ask me to take more for grandma! And he'll keep on giving me smiles and poses for her :)

I've been very fortunate to grab a few goodies with this technique:

http://i40.tinypic.com/efpj6e.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/xggkuu.jpg


and i think it's nice to just ignore them for a bit, until they start playing. Kids don't walk around with posed expressions, i think it's nice to catch them "as they are"
http://i41.tinypic.com/2a93a6c.jpg

[LauraSB]

I'm right with you as my booboo turns 2 on Monday. Going to do his 2 year old pics this weekend. Probably going to try to find a field with tall grass and get a little chair and take it out there to see what comes out of it. He's still got his long hair too so he still looks like a baby. Good luck and let us see the pics when they come out.

[mollylev]

Catch them at whatever they are doing. Then every once in a while, call their name and snap the photo. But don't call their name all the time, otherwise they will stop listening...

[Foredeck]

This might be a bit too late, but I found a great little trick this week-end.

The photographer concentrates on taking the picture, not doing anything else but having the finger on the shutter and taking a million pictures.

The second person goes in, tickles the stomach and then bolts back under the camera. This way, the child will burst out laughing and look at the "tickler". When you back up, you get so close to the camera that it looks like they're looking directly at the lense. We got great shots out of it with this technique.

[bigarchi]

This might be a bit too late, but I found a great little trick this week-end.

The photographer concentrates on taking the picture, not doing anything else but having the finger on the shutter and taking a million pictures.

The second person goes in, tickles the stomach and then bolts back under the camera. This way, the child will burst out laughing and look at the "tickler". When you back up, you get so close to the camera that it looks like they're looking directly at the lense. We got great shots out of it with this technique.

yeah, i have found this too. i can't do half as good by myself as I can with my fiancee assisting me like that!
bonking her head, tickling, whatever fart noises she can come up with help me keep my face behind the lens and finger on the trigger!