Bummed Out about Portrait Session

Yesterday I took some images of my best friend's daughter. We ended up going out in midday (ugggg). The beautiful girl was unfortunately fairly uncooperative. I was dealing with mottled shade, and used a gold reflector held by the toddler's mom. It was one of those days where I walk away dreading looking at the photos in Lightroom for fear that there won't even be 1 good one. What a bummer! Here are a few of the better images of the set.
Looking at the last one through flickr, it needs to be lightened. It didn't appear quite that dark in LR.
Any critique is welcome, well any constructive critique anyways...!

Kids are fun, aren't they? Maybe she'll be in a better mood next time. They all look properly exposed on my calibrated monitor.

I know how you feel, and it's really discouraging. But things will get much better. One thing that I've heard from friends (since I've never shot kids before) is that you shouldn't try to pose kids, but instead interact with them because their natural spontaneous expressions are better then what you'll ever get from directing them due to their reputation for not co-operating (Trust me, I've worked as an Assistant-Director for a youth theatre, and the 12 and under shows are impossible to control :P ).

As far as the shots go I think 1 and 3 are the best, and I think 1 could be a bit better if you bump the brightness up a hair, maybe 1/3 of a stop. All together you made the best of a bad situation, so be proud of that and better luck next time!

#3 is definitely the keeper. I think #2 is not flattering.

If it is a best friend, you should be able to schedule another time pretty easily, maybe at a better time of day and maybe the mom could work at having her in better humor for the session. That is tough though. I have 4 kids, and I still have not mastered shooting children.

On the first and third image, it looks like the catch lights were added in pp and to me make the eyes too prominent. If you add catch lights, you might try an off white and use a softer brush so they aren't so dominant

I have a son that is a few months older than this girl, so I know that it is next to impossible to get toddlers to pose. These were all taken while she was on the move, except the first which was while she was sitting in a wagon, in between short rides. The second one isn't a great image, I know, but it's more representative of how I felt afterwards ha.
I didn't add any catchlights in pp. Mom was close by with reflector so it actually made fairly bright catchlights. Upon looking closer, they are even in the wrong spot since the reflector was held beneath her to bounce up light into her face. I can take them down in pp, if needed though
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it!

The first image especially looks much better now. Now, it's her impish smile that stands out.

her eyes are pretty though, i can see it in 3rd pic. maybe if you can re-shoot at the right time(when she is cooperative, that is), i'm sure you'll produce some good pics.

I have never had luck with kids photos where it was obvious that my goal was to get a great shot. Having an assistant chase them around with a reflector is simply a further invitation to have an uncooperative subject. So I give you credit for getting even these shots. Kids are not unlike adults who get self-conscious when somebody points a camera at them.

Any time I've wanted to get shots of kids, I have used two techniques: engage them in some manner and take quick shots as an apparent afterthought. Or use a 70-200 lens racked full out, stand (hide) 30 feet away, and never make eye contact.

One suggestion since you plan to shoot again with your friend. Suggest that her daughter wear a shirt without text on it. It just makes for nicer 'Portraits' IMO.

I like the 3rd one. If it's a friend you could do it again. Great idea Lore, photoshop the words out. Also, not ideal but many photos that were thought to not have a chance, some photoshop work can help bring them back by being creative (selective color, croping, filters, changing backgrounds. Then again some clients like what you have in the first place, just re shoot if necessary.

Thanks for the input. Lore, I agree completely! I actually suggested to my friend that not to have print (letters and/or pictures) but that is what she ended up wearing, because she didn't own any t-shirts without a print. I can remove the print in photoshop, and it would look much much better... However, at this point though, I am not sure if it is really worth the effort, since I did it for free, and she will more than likely just post a few on facebook. Something I will make sure to implement next time. I guess I will have to make that more mandatory than suggestion.