Photographing Toddlers | Featuring Cade Cook | Child Photography

Hi Friends! 

Today I want to talk about photographing toddlers. This is the age little ones are testing their boundaries, discovering the world around them and love to say "NO." I believe this is also one of the most challenging stages to photograph because not only will they refuse to be cute for a picture, they are also little balls of energy that won't stay still. 

I have five children of my own and learned real early that if I want to get a good picture of them, I had to do one of two things. I could bribe them for their cooperation with a toy, stickers, or even a nice dessert or I could just let them be kids. Bribing them works but I was teaching them to be selfish. Only behaving if there was something in it for them. However, when I just let them be the incredible fun loving little beings that they are, I got fantastic images.  They were not concerned that mommy was holding a camera and was going to make them smile  for a picture. 

I took this knowledge into my work with toddlers. Rather than watching parents get irritated that their vision for the perfect session is being ruined by their toddler having a tantrum, I explain that little will get hot, uncomfortable, or just not want to be photographed. But, that is totally okay. In order to avoid this, I encourage parents to work around their child. Let them be a kid. Play with them instead of trying to pose them. While this will mean more movement for mom and dad during the session, the results are fantastic! Parents get a gallery of them having a good time with their little one and genuine smiles.

Featured on today's blog is Cade. A perfect example of everything I have said above. He was initially uncooperative. I mean, why would he cooperate? He doesn't know me. But once we let him play, he no longer cared that some crazy lady was taking pictures of him. He was happy playing with his mom and "G" (his very energetic grandmother).

We decided to do this session super early in the morning. If I remember correctly, it was 8:30 am. The idea was to avoid the intense heat of the day. However, in South Carolina, our heat can be scorching hot from sunrise to sunset at times. This day, we had heat and humidity. Yet, Cade was happy and he did not mind the weather.

Meet Cade and his mom Hayley! Hayley traveled from North Carolina to visit her mother. 
While visiting, she messaged me about doing a session with her son. I was so excited to 
do it for her. You see, not to long ago, I did Hayley's wedding pictures. What an honor to
photograph her son! Cade did a fantastic job of being a great, energetic little boy in front of my camera.

Does he look posed? 

He was not posed. He was playing
with his mom and 'G'. 

Here is is climbing through a tube smiling at his
Grandmother who was waiting for him on the other side.

Here he had just come down the slide with his Grandma. 
He loved playing with his mom and 'G'. (That's what he calls his Grandmother.)
I think it's adorable!

   

Shai Falls | Newborn

Meet Shai Falls

   Those who know me, know how much I LOVE babies. I am so grateful that I was able to photograph Shai. You see, Shai was born in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's no wonder his parents had some reservations about doing his newborn pictures. However, they decided to get them done with some major precautions. Wearing a mask was a must! I also sanitized my hands constantly and we did the session at their home instead of our studio. 

The world was in chaos. But, Shai doesn't have a care in the world. Look how peaceful he is sleeping. To say he was a great baby to photograph would be an understatement. It did not surprise me one bit. A year prior, I had the opportunity to snuggle with his brother, Adrian. He was a perfect baby during his session. So, I knew Shai would be just as good. 

Shai with big brother Adrian

Now every baby has a different personality. I had so much fun watching Shai's expressions change as I continued to photograph him. I can already imagine the young man he will become. Caring, kind and funny.

Dreaming sweet dreams and smiling.

Uh Oh! I just filled my diaper.

Get me out of this snuggie and change my diapee!

Thank goodness! Mom to the rescue.

Geesh! How long do I have to pose?

As you can see, he is little but full of personality! I can't wait to see him grow and capture all his milestones.  

I hope you enjoyed this preview of Shai's newborn session. His full gallery will be available soon. However, that will be up to his parents to post. 

Until next time,

This is Lory Ament

Signing off for now.

Hayley and Cory Cook | Wedding

Deep in the mountainous territory of Newland, North Carolina, in the highest county seat in the East, two people prepared for a day that would shape and affect the rest of their lives. The decision made that day would reverberate into the farthest reaches of their soon-to-be-written history, inspiring joy, tears, hugs, kisses, and a beautiful celebration of that oldest of institutions, marriage.

Hayley was so excited, even before she got ready. But as she slipped into her dress, as mom and sister helped zip and cinch clasps, the transformation from an excited girl to a vivacious bride was completed.

Their first look was an unusual one; she sat in an old rocker behind Cory’s beloved race car, and Chris, Cory’s dad, drove it out from between them, and as the exhaust cleared, she stood, and his beautiful bride was revealed. His face was priceless!

They shared a few private moments, talking excitedly about their first impressions of each other on that day.

The ceremony was precious. Every detail had been thought of.

The rustic arbour was decorated beautifully, and at the end of each row of hay bales was a stump, holding a vase of sunflowers.

Each hay bale was covered in a handmade quilt.

They said their vows,

Exchanged rings,

And of course, sealed it with a kiss!

There were a few must-have portraits in the mix,

And no wedding photo series would be complete without Mayley!

A few romantics…

The rings…

The first dance…

The cake cutting…

The Gum Game!

The day could not have been more perfect, and Josh and I are so grateful that we had the opportunity to share and capture it for the Cooks!

On the road again | Day 2 Chattanooga, Tennessee

Our second day in Chattanooga was very eventful.   We began with a great breakfast at the Holiday Inn we were staying at.  From there we boarded The Daniel's Bus and Chuck, our bus driver, took us to our first destination of the day.


Ruby Falls was incredible! When I look at the Tennessee Mountains I never imagine that a water fall could be within any of them.  However, Ruby Falls is exactly that. A waterfall inside a cave within Look Out Mountain. Our guide told us that the waterfall was the height of the Empire State building in New York!!

The Cave Lights Change Color

The waterfall is so tall you have to really
lean back to take it all in.

Walking through the cave we saw stalagmites and stalagtights. 

The Stalagmite is smooth because when a
human touches it the oils in our skin cause this to happen.

Once we finished at Ruby Falls we saw a movie that spoke about The Battle of Chattanooga.  

Once we finished here we went next door to The Battles For Chattanooga Museum.

Point Park is also right outside of this museum so we stopped there briefly and looked at the amazing scenery.

The Chattanooga Aquarium has an IMAX theater inside and we had the great treat of having lunch and watching a great and entertaining movie about the Madagascar Lemurs.  

My favorite place by far was the actual Aquarium in Chattanooga!! It had TWO buildings of sea life!!

There is a road named after the Aquarium

I think the architecture of the building is amazing!

By now the teachers and staff  have become good friends.

I love this creature!

Penguins!!  My kids were so jealous. LOL!

The jellyfish displays were huge.

Love watching the teachers look at God's creations with such awe.

Every place we went to ended at the gift shop.  

We even got a behind the scenes look at the aquarium.

Divers volunteer to help feed the fish and make sure everyone eats.

These guys were called River Monsters.  

This big guy smiled for my camera.

They even have petting pools!!

We spent about two and a half hours at the aquarium.  As if that wasn't enough fun we walked over to the nearby Creative Discovery Children's Museum.  Here we played with music, water, shadows and much, much more.

Adults and children love riding the carousel.  Chattanooga has a great one.  All the figures are hand made out of wood.  The craftsmanship is amazing. A must see with your own eyes!!

Isn't this a beautiful building

Colors are magnificent

These rockers are very comfortable for those who wish to watch instead of ride.

The Antique Carousel at Coolidge Park is so much fun.  I loved watching everyone go back to their childhood for a moment as they enjoyed a ride on this wonder of wonders. You can imagine by now we have worked up an appetite.  Fortunately for us, The Southern Belle River Boat was waiting for us and ready to feed us as well.  Here we were able to relax for a little while, enjoy our dinner and play games or watch television.

We ended the evening with a tour of the coolest gym ever!! It is called High Point Climbing. Walls upon walls of rock climbing.  Definitely a great workout.

 We left the climbing gym and rode to our hotel to rest. Our third and final day was coming and we needed to sleep.

Have you ever visited any of these places?  Tell me your experience.  Would you go again?