Family portrait time

It's that time of year when I try to get some good portraits of our kids and us as a family.  First of all, the kids each just had a birthday so I'd been meaning to get portraits of them for that reason, but it has been about a year since we'd gotten a family portrait taken and I was hoping to start getting some pictures of the two kids together.

Well, let's just say that I've learned from experience that it is NOT easy with two kids.  We went to JC Penney portrait studio again to get some more black background portraits for my gallery wall, and while we got some good ones of Emma on her own, and one good one of Evan by himself, we didn't get a single photo of us as a family or of the two kids together that I liked.  I'll include a sample below and you'll see why.  Evan's at the stage where he squints and overdoes his smile, and while he should be old enough to listen and pay attention, it always seemed he wasn't looking when the photographer took the shot.  And of course, Emma was a problem as well since she was tired of sitting still and could have cared less to look at the camera, not to mention smile.

Anyway, I'm glad I took a few outdoor photos of the two kids together last week, so I have those at least (but not black background for my gallery wall).  We may have to try again soon for more at the studio, or just wait it out until they're both a bit older.  Either way, while the photos with more than one kid (including the family ones) didn't turn out as I had hoped, I did get some cute ones of each kid on their own.

My favorite of Emma...

Not sure why the photographer though having Evan look through the "3" was a good idea…you can't see his face!

My favorite of Evan...

We also took a few of just me and John…not only did those poses take just a couple minutes to take, they all turned out pretty good.  This is my favorite:

Now for the sample of the ones of both kids together and the family shots that aren't bad (there were others that were worse!), but aren't anything I would order and hang on my wall.  

I don't like these kinds of poses, but it's the only one that looks okay because it was meant to have everyone looking a different way than at the camera.

Here's to better luck next time I guess! :)