What to do when the kids are sick? {Bethesda, MD child photographer}

It happens every now and then.  It’s never fun, but it’s a part of life.  One moment, the kiddos are running around like banshees, and the next — bam!  Sick.

The “stomach flu” hit us a couple days after we returned from California a few weeks ago, so Thursday was pretty much spent helping my little daughter regain fluids.  She turned out to be a big fan of the pedialyte popsicles.

Meanwhile, my son and I battled over whether he would “cut things” or help me with dinner, until I had the brilliant idea to wash his Crayola kid scissors and let him use them to cut the carrots into microscopic pieces fit for our fried rice dinner.

Finished cooking dinner, my son then decided, quite out of the blue, that it was his turn to take pictures.  With my camera.  With my professional camera.  My Nikon D700.  Fighting the urge to simply say “no”, and madly trying to remember the fine print in my insurance policy, I agreed.  I showed him how to hold the camera (left hand under the lens — for adults, this results in sharper pictures because the camera is steadier; in the hands of a 4 year old, this was the only possible way he was going to be able to hold the heavy camera without dropping it!), and he finally managed to contort his hand so he could press the shutter.  We then launched into a discussion of photo techniques, as I encouraged him to try to get both our heads in the picture, for example.  After a while, he got more comfortable and started telling us how he wanted us to sit (or lie on the floor).

All in all, I found myself extremely impressed — and not a little proud of myself for obviously being an amazing photography instructor, lol.  (Though on a more serious note, I am happy to teach private lessons if you’re new to your SLR and would like to understand how to really take advantage of that amazing piece of equipment!)

Looks like my problem of never being in any pictures is over!

- Danielle Smallwood, Bethesda, MD children’s photography