Photographing Babies

Many people often tell me how lucky I am to be a mom that can take really great pictures of my children. I will admit it's great to be able to photograph my own children, but it is often one of the hardest tasks to do. My children don't see me as "the photographer," they see me as "mom." And to sit there while mom tries to observe them rather than playing with them or holding them is not fun. So . . . my son, Gabriel, is now 6 months old. When he reached that marker, I decided to wait a week to photograph him, partially because I was so busy, and also because he had just learned to sit up. I figured if I gave him a week, he'd be better at it for the photos. Well, a week passed, and then a nasty cold set in. The poor little guy was so sick. I decided to try a photo shoot anyway, but he wasn't having it. So after five minutes of wiping boogers and calming tears, I gave up and decided to wait another day. A few more days passed, the cold was lingering, but I decided to try again. Nope, he wasn't having it again. It's like he saw the camera and all smiles disappeared. Okay, so I waited one more week. Now it's his teeth. He's getting the top front teeth in, and he is miserable! So after 4 trials and 1 week left until he's 7 months old, I'm giving up. I got a few good ones, but sometimes babies don't want to cooperate. The song my mom used to sing to me as a child keeps ringing in my head; "have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry . . ." Without further ado, my son's 6 month photos: