As a parent, you always want some professional photos of your kids for special occasions. These are lasting shots you can share with family and friends, but what most new parents do not realize yet is that kids are never cooperative with photographers and the whole perfect photo business. It takes a really good photographer and the right day, right time, and right photography equipment to get exactly the right keepsake photo. That said, here is a guidebook for first-time parents trying to get perfect pics of their uncooperative kids. 

NEVER During Nap Time

If you know that your kids take naps between two and four in the afternoon, do not schedule a photo shoot for that time. Your kids will be tired, whiny, cranky, inattentive, and trying desperately to get away while screaming and crying uncontrollably. It is never a pretty picture, and it does not make for a pretty photo, either. You know your children best, and you know when they are at their best, brightest, happiest, and most content. Schedule a photo shoot session for the time of day when you know they will be very bright-eyed and happy. 

Clothes Should Be Comfortable

Those family Christmas photos are a treat, but if you are dressing up the kids in things that are too tight or too itchy, you will not get the photos you are after. The clothes will be irritating and annoying to the kids. They will constantly be trying to get out of them, or they will sit and howl. Find something that is still cute enough for a photo but comfortable enough that it gets a pic you like. 

The Kid Photo Backdrop You Like May Not Be the One for the Kids

If you have lovely visions of the perfect photo in front of a backdrop you adore, scrap that idea now. The photographer will try really hard to make it happen, but usually what happens is that your kids will pick the backdrops that make them smile, and that is exactly when the photographer can get the best pictures. It may not be the backdrop(s) you wanted, but if it gets the kids laughing and smiling, you can hardly argue with that. There are many kid photo backdrops to choose from.

Props Are Your Best Friend

Kids have naturally short attention spans. The younger the kids, the shorter the spans are. Have toys that your children love to hold with you when you come to the shoot, or find things out of the photographer's prop bucket that the kids seem to gravitate toward. These are the items that will get them to stay in place just long enough for the photographer to get their attention and make them smile or giggle for the split seconds needed to get a photo.