Children & Animals - A Challenge We Relish
W.C. Fields has a famous trope that still makes its rounds around business today- “Never work with children or animals.” Lasting Expressions did not take that advice, and for good reason!
Parents make up the majority of our clientele, and we love to see their little ones grow up! We’ve seen children from birth all the way up to tenth birthdays and senior portraits. It is always such a cool thing to see these babies grow and develop, and to get to capture those memories for the parents that we see so often they become our friends and neighbors. We built our photography around relationships- with families, parents, and children, and it has been such a positive experience all the way around. We couldn’t imagine doing business any other way!
But…the same types of backgrounds for ten years? Wouldn’t that get a little boring after a while? That’s where the animals come in. We see so many animals throughout the year, it seems like we might actually run a part-time petting zoo. We see little ducks in the spring, with our indoor pond and dock. We see chicks and pumpkins in the fall. Easter brings bunnies and our ever-popular little lamb to liven up our spring scene. This year we decided to expand our farm scene and include a little pig for some of our specialty days! Is it easy to contain all of these animals AND try to get top-quality images of the children with them? Absolutely not. But is it super fun and rewarding? You bet!
We LOVE our animal sessions- but it’s not as simple as one might think to get that perfect shot. To pull it off, our staff takes on a variety of rolls – teamwork is key! There is always a photographer to pose and set up, but there is also a “designated animal wrangler” to help position and watch over our adventurous critters. These folks are really the backbone of our sessions- without them, our ducks would never be in a row.
It’s a lot of work, for sure. But the best moments of our day is when an excited child comes to meet their animal friend and just lights up the room. They forget they’re even taking pictures, they are enjoying the moment. It is such a unique and special experience to watch these children find joy in animals and the world around them, and it is such a fun time in the camera room to capture those moments as keepsakes for their families.
