Why the Unplanned Moments Are Always the Best Ones

Every photographer has a version of this story. Mine involves an eighteen-month-old who refused to sit still, a dad who was absolutely certain this was a terrible idea, and a mum who kept apologising for both of them.

They are one of my favourite galleries I have ever shot.

The dad loosened up around the forty minute mark. The toddler started using me as a hiding spot during a spontaneous game of chasey. The mum stopped apologising and started laughing. And in the middle of all of that chaos, I got the shot: the three of them on the floor in an absolute heap, laughing at nothing in particular, completely forgetting I was there.

That is the image that ended up printed above their fireplace.

I tell this story because I want families to stop coming to sessions trying to perform. The stiff smiles, the "everyone look at the camera," the desperate attempts to get the toddler to cooperate: I understand the instinct, but it almost never produces the best images.

The best images come from the in-between moments. The look between two parents over a baby's head. The kid who breaks rank and does something completely unexpected. The quiet moment that nobody planned.

My job is to be ready for those moments. Your job is to just be there.

So come as you are. Bring the kids exactly as they are. Let it be a little chaotic. I promise the photos will be better for it.