Best age for professional pictures?

My twins are 17 months, and so far we've never had professional pictures taken. It's not that important to me, plus a photographer comes to their daycare twice a year, so we get some that way (and it's pretty cheap), though they're not fabulous. But one of these days I'd like to get really nice pictures taken.

It seems like this is a terrible age to do it -- they can't follow directions, can't sit still, and are stranger shy! Would 2 yrs be better? 2.5? I know it depends on the child, but what's your best guess?

 

I don't remember my kids really getting an easier until around 3, before that it took a good photographer to get a picture in the split second they were cooperating.

I think my DD has been easier at picture time than my boys ever were, I think watching them and seeing how they do it has helped her out a lot.

 

We took our kids to Portrait Innovations when they were 10 months old. The guy taking the pictures was really good and seemed to work with kids a lot. My DD and DS did really good. I helped get them in place and then stood behind the camera guy and waved toys around.

We spent $ 80.00 a got a disk that has all the pictures on it that were taken that day of my kids, even the bad pictures. We can take that anywhere and get more pictures made. They had a lot of props and at that age we just used a really big teddy bear that they have.

Good Luck!

 

We're in the same situation right now. It's nice to know I'm not the only mom that hasn't done professional photos yet. We have thousands of digital pictures, but it's getting to the point where I'd really like a nice portrait of all three kids. I'm actually planning to do it in the next few weeks. Though, I know that it won't be easy and there is a good chance that it could be a disaster. 2 is better than 18 months, but my kids are still pretty tough to get to sit still. My plan is to go to one of the studios that does not have a sitting fee. If it's disaster, I won't order any photos and we'll try again another time. I'm also taking my mom for help (and hopefully to keep me sane).

I say go for it and have an open mind. It might go well, it might not. If not, you can try again in a few months. Good luck!

-Catherine

 

We had portrait taken at 3 months and at 1 year old. First time it was Sears, second time at Walmart. It turns out the Walmart ones are just as good as the Sears. We learned not to purchase any touch-ups, like background or digital enhancement. At Sears we spent about $100 for 6 or so sheets vs. $80 at Walmart for 10 sheets. There is no sitting fee at Walmart and you can just purchase as many sheets as you want for a reasonable price. Besides the price, the pics are priceless now looking back. Even at 3 months, the pictures came out beautifully. The studio has props to let them sit straight or proper position for nice pictures.

 

My girls still don't sit still, but you can't tell it by their pictures. Here's how we did pics.

3 mos - JC Penney
6 mos - JCP
9 mos - JCP
1 year - JCP
1.5 Christmas - JCP
2 years - Spent several hundred dollars at a portrait studio. They were running all around the floor but would sit still for that split second to get a good shot.
3 year and 4 year pics have also been a privately owned studio.

Honestly, my girls were the worse at 3 years. The first 2 years were pretty good. 4 was one of the best.

 

We went at 3, 6, 8.5, 12, 15, 16 (for Christmas gifts), and 17 months . They did the best at 8.5 months -- before they were walking (although one had just started crawling so that was a little crazy) and they were sitting up well. They did great at 16 months at Portrait Innovations but we went on a non-busy weekday, I had 3 people that worked there wanting to help me who had a lot of patience. The ones at 17 months were Christmas pictures and the place rushed us which didn't work very well for Ethan.

We are going to The Picture People tomorrow at 21.5 months (free 8x10 and any other good shots I luck into with my 20% off coupon) and we are going to a professional children's photographer for their 2 year pics with a few of DH and I thrown in.

I find I take pretty ok pics of them myself (have about 15,000 of those but I always seems to miss that one special shot because I don't have an SLR (really fast) camera. That's why I go to the photographers. I can usually get one special shot of each but haven't had much luck lately with the 2 of them together. They are moving too much.

BTW QUOTE
We spent $ 80.00 a got a disk that has all the pictures on it that were taken that day of my kids, even the bad pictures. We can take that anywhere and get more pictures made.
. This isn't true although I'm sure a lot of people do it. You are supposed to take the cd back to Portrait Innovations for reprints -- otherwise you are violating copyright laws.

I say go for it -- you can't go back and do this age over again. It might be fun. If you go to a place where there is no sitting fee (The Picture People and Portrait Innovations are 2 that I know of) and you have no obligation to buy anything, you don't have anything to lose.

Mendy

 

Mine did much better before they were mobile. Their best photos are the 3 month ones -- they could sit well with a prop and Trevor actually smiled. Now a photo shoot is an exercise in stamina and patience and they will not smile for anything (although they will smile when I take pictures at home...)

An experienced photographer will get a decent shot even if the kids are less than cooperative. Maybe not the ideal shot, but something you'll be happy with.

 

When they were little we got in on a picture plan a local photographer was doing. Threy had pics at 3 6 9 & 12 months. Near the one yr mark we were debating on doing her next Plan or just try one of the other places. Well, we went to one of the places in the mall (I think they were about 16 months or so) it was verry stressfull for me, they did not even get one good one, not better than I could. So, we went back to the other photographer. Even when they were not in the best mood she was able to get some of both individual and together for us to choose from. She is a little more expensive but I have always had a difficult time making choices.

This being said, I have a friend that swears by the photo place in BRU.

Good Luck.

 

I like BRU and have most of their pictires done there, but it is still a challenge to get them to sit at 2. So I am hoping once they hit 3-years-old it will start to get easier.

We have gone to a professional photographer twice (once at the beach and once at their studio) and it has also been difficult to get them to sit and smile.

Good luck!

 

One of my girls still won't sit still for a picture. When we take them to get their pictures made, Abbie acts like she is terrified of the photographer. I'm going to wait until my girls turn 3 before I try it again.

 

We just turned 18 months and I am planning on taking them to Picture People. I tried to do a walk in, but the guy behind the counnter laughed out loud at me (that made me so mad). The next day, Chloe fell and got a black eye, then 5 days later, she tripped again and scraped her forehead... we are just waiting for her boo-boos to clear before trying again. This will be our first pro pictures. For their one year pics, I did have an aspoiring photographer friend come over to take pics, it worked out nice, but I would really like a studio pic!

 

We've went for 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 months and we just recently went at 21 months for a cheapo session at Penney's for Easter pics. 18 months (Christmas) and this past one at 21 months were NOT good! They screamed through the entire Chrismtas session. The Easter ones turned out ok, but they were more action shots than anything. It's HARD to get them to pay attention to a stranger with a camera in their face, have them sit still (next to each other) and NOT get distracted.

WE've done primarily Sears and Penney's. We splurged and did their 1 year pics at Flash Digital which was REALLY pricey (we spent over $250). For 2 year pics I'm going to take them to Portrait Innovations since they are cheaper than Flash and do a really good job.

Goodluck with your decision. Bring a helper, it's always a little bit easier that way.

 

Just as a quick update -- the photographer came to their daycare last week, and Sarah simply refused to have her picture taken. Amy (who is actually more stranger shy) did just fine, but apparently Sarah burst into tears as soon as her teacher plopped her down in front of the backdrop. They tried again the next day and the same thing happened. So I guess we won't have any pics of Sarah from this stage except the ones we take ourselves! It will be interesting to see how Amy's turn out, at least. But I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money on a sitting fee just to have that happen.