Outdoor Photoshoot with the Rigby Family

Sometimes, a member of your family doesn’t want to take part in your family photoshoot. Read on to find out how we got Louie, 6, onboard and smiling after an unpromising start…

You probably know an adult who doesn’t like to be photographed. He or she has ninja-like capabilities when it comes to avoiding the camera lens. They look pained and hide behind their hands when you try to persuade them, “Come on, it’s just a photo!”. If you do finally manage to persuade them, their expression in the final image communicates clearly how much they didn’t want to be there.

This photo-aversion is most often a learned reaction. Our friends and family don’t know how to pose and light us in a flattering way, so the photos we see are almost always less appealing than how we see ourselves. Once you’ve seen countless unflattering photos of yourself, it’s not too surprising you want to avoid further pain and disappointment by opting out of future ones entirely.

Photo-aversion is less common in children. They haven’t yet learned to judge themselves as harshly as adults do, and often enjoy the attention of the camera lens. For some children, though, photo-aversion is there almost from the beginning.

Meet the Rigby family

Mum-of-three Annalisa told me that she hadn’t got a single photo of the family together since her twins were six weeks old, mainly because Louie (6) refused to take part.

I took on the challenge, and we met one Friday evening at a local beauty spot.

“Bit of a problem,” Annalisa said apologetically as she opened the car door, “Louie is asleep and we’re just waking him up.”

She grimaced, communicating that a tired Louie may be even less willing than an awake version. He was not happy to be dragged from his sleep, and insisted on dad carrying him into the park.

We chatted as we walked to a bit of open space at the far end of the woods, by which time Louie was reluctantly walking. With everyone in position and the sun heading towards the horizon, I was keen to get started with our first game.

Louie did not want to play.

I empathised with him. He had only just met me, had just been woken up and mum said he had always hated having photos taken. So it wasn’t turning out to be a great evening for him.

At this point, I realised (and accepted) that I might not be able to get him onboard at all. Equally, I knew that there were four people in front of me who were happy and enthusiastic about having their photograph taken: Mum Annalisa, dad Keith, Archie (7), and Louie’s twin sister, Poppy (6).

Rather than trying to cajole or bribe Louie to take part, I chose to carry on with or without him. My reasoning was as follows: I get families to play a series of age-appropriate games during my photoshoots. This helps people relax, but also means I get genuine expressions and interactions. I hoped that Louie would start to think that he was missing out on a lot of fun if he didn’t take part. As you’ll see from our first photo, he wasn’t initially convinced:

At least he was in the frame, and not looking unhappy, I thought. It was a starting point.

We moved on, playing different games and photographing different combinations together – mum with each child, dad with each child.

Louie was watching closely, but still refusing to take part.

Dad suddenly swept Louie up into the air at speed. I saw that Louie was gradually finding it harder not to smile and enjoy himself. Then, shortly afterwards, I heard him whisper ‘hide and seek’.

“I love hide and seek!” I said, “Let’s play over there.”

We played hide and seek for a while, and then I morphed it into one of the session games next. Like magic, Louie was willing to go along with the next game. And the one after that. At last we had a photo of the family together, all laughing and interacting:

Next up was an image of all the siblings together, just as the sun started dipping behind the hedgerow to the left of Archie (as we’re looking at it). I love how connected everyone is with their arms and hands here:

And finally, we ended with one more family shot resulting from an impromptu game on a flat slab of rock:

Everyone went home happy that day: mum and dad finally have a photograph of their family together, Archie and Poppy got to play all the games I had planned, and Louie hopefully realised that actually, sometimes it can be fun to be in the photos.

Afterwards, Annalisa said:

“Sarah was absolutely fantastic with my family & has the patience of a saint. I am so pleased with the photographs , we all loved the photo shoot it was lots of fun for all, even Louie when he finally came round to having his picture taken. Thanks again.”

Thank you to Annalisa for giving me her blessing to share the story behind the shoot!

If you are thinking of getting some portraits done for your wall or for Christmas gifts, please get in contact so we can get you booked in!:

Sarah Plater is a portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

(c) Sarah Plater Photography