If you have a child in diapers, we’re going to need to bring the diaper bag and all that other stuff babies and toddlers need. Consider bringing grandma along to schlep the stuff so you and your husband don’t have to carry anything except the kid.
A grandparent or aunt or uncle can be a great addition to our shoot. She can carry stuff for us. She can help me with lighting and scrimming (shading sunspots off faces in family shots) and she can make goo goo faces at the baby while standing a half inch from my camera. And we’ll get some shots of her (or him) with the children too!
If grandparents will be joining us for our shoot, show them my website. Tell them they should plan to enjoy their grandchildren and listen to Robin for what to do, where to look and when to smile at the camera. (Why is it grandparents so often avoid looking at the camera? They’re worse than pre-teens!)
Too many people at a shoot is distracting for children. At any given time, there should be no more than two additional adults present besides the parents and me.
If it’s hot out, you will sweat. Darker clothes will hide this better than lighter clothes. Be prepared to fix makeup and wipe your face with babywipes or something to hide the glistening skin.
If we’re shooting at the beach, bring talcum-free baby powder to get rid of sand.
Brush your teeth. Seriously. Make your children brush their teeth.
If your child eats anything during our shoot, be prepared to wipe his face, even if he only ate just one tiny cracker. You wouldn’t believe how much work it is to clean up crumbs on faces, and even one little cracker makes facial crumbs.