Guest Post: 6 Ways to Take Amazing Easter Portraits of Your Kids – Without Losing Your Sanity

Take your portraits before Easter Sunday. 

Don’t try to take your children’s Easter portraits on the same day as all of your other festivities.  Leading up to Easter, pick a lazy Saturday or Sunday with pretty weather, get the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits and take them outside.  Last year, my hubby and I chose to take our little ones to our family’s favorite trail for these photos.

Think ahead and be creative. 

For instance, I knew plastic Easter eggs filled with dried black beans would hold their attention long enough for me to capture a few still shots like the ones pictured above.

 

Don’t expect them to sit still for you for long.  Let them be kids (be sure to give yourself enough time to do laundry before Easter Sunday). 

After sitting for me for a few shots, I let them run loose for a little bit and do as they wish.  In the above shots, when I wanted my girl to stand still for a minute, I drew her attention to the stump and asked her how tall she would be if she stood on it.  She couldn’t resist.  Do something similar with kids to slow them down for a minute.

Don’t forget to capture the details. 

For this close up of my girl as well as the image of the Easter basket, I shot from above and moved in for a closer view.  I love that I documented her long lashes (I’m so envious!) as well as her Easter basket (mine from my childhood), the detail on her dress, and her Mary Janes.

Stage your own Easter egg hunt.

Instead of taking pictures of your kids at a crowded Easter egg hunt, have your very own private hunt with filled or unfilled plastic eggs.  My girl (3 years old at the time) was content to search for her favorite colored eggs over and over and over again, giving me plenty of time to get the shots I wanted.  She didn’t even need them to be filled with candy (we’ll see what happens this year!).

Be ready to improvise and, no matter what, have fun!

You will probably have expectations going into your shoot, but at some point, your little ones most likely won’t go along with your plans. It’s important that you’re ready to improvise and capture what unfolds.  After all, you want to have fun - otherwise they’ll never sit in front of your camera again!  More than anything, you want to capture your real life moments and the happy memories you make as a family. 

For instance, in the above images, my son let me know that he was d-o-n-e with our shoot, so we threw him up on my husband’s shoulders.  He was content and I was happy to capture his love for riding on his daddy’s shoulders along his cute little bow tie.

Have fun and good luck!

Jennifer Krafchik, owner of Jennifer K Photography, has been a wife for 9 years, a mama for four, and and a professional photographer for three. Capturing life through her lens is one of her greatest obsessions and she looks forward to sharing this love with you each month. Keep up with her life as a mama to two little monkeys as well as her latest work and promotions by following her blog and Facebook page.