Children's Portrait Photography Handbook

She also mentions to parents that if a toddler sees a
new toy of hers, a favorite toy from home, a pacifier, a
stuffed animal, or a blanket, they almost always need to
have it in their hands right away. So be careful what you
bring to your camera stand! Young toddlers, especially
one- to two-year-olds, can be so fixated on what they
want that they simply cannot wait to handle and explore
it. Until they are two to three years old, children do not
have the emotional ability to “wait a few moments.”
Distractions.Arriving on the set, the first reaction from
children of this age is generally “No! Got to get down
now!” This usually happens before the first photo is ever
taken. “This is generally where my crying and frustrated
photos come from—the beginning of the shoot rather

than the end of the shoot,” says Stacy. “But, we do not

let them down unless they are truly terrified—and there

is a different, desperate, panic cry that comes with that

emotion.” With mom on one side of the chair, her assis-

tant on the other side, and Stacy in front of the toddler,

they work with balls of all shapes and sizes and, play

catch, pop bubbles, read books, and sing songs that have

hand gestures. This usually gets the child over the initial

hurdle of being on the set.

Stand on the Tape.When a full-body set is called for

there is no way to contain a toddler except with positive

reinforcement and some distraction. On these, sets Stacy

puts a piece of colored tape where she would like for the

child to stand. They are to cover the piece of tape like a

STACY BRATTON’S INSIGHTS 81

Stacy Bratton is a whiz at working with kids but sometimes even the best-laid plans fall short. In this portrait, it has become stereo hys-
teria and the only thing to do is to get a good image. Parents will often appreciate this kind of image of their kids as much as the cute,
smiling ones.