One of the most challenging things a mom can do is photograph her own children. I know at least one mom who is a well-known professional photographer and she is greatly challenged when photographing her own children.

You want it to be perfect but the kids never cooperate.

To succeed, it must become a game.

On one occasion, I was photographing this little girl. According to the mom, little girl never had a great portrait taken before. As it turns out she was extremely shy. But she was holding the key to a great portrait. She was holding her favorite stuffed animal.

I asked her if she would like to photograph her little stuffed kitten. She thought about it, and then she agreed. I posed the little cat then let her push the button on my camera. She was tickled when she saw the photo pop up on the back of the camera. The kitten fell over and I asked her to hold it up. Then I took the photo of her holding kitten. She liked that. Then I asked her if the kitten could take her portrait. She giggled with every image. The kitten was taking her photo.

If you can turn it into a game you can capture fantastic portraits.