Children Don't Care About The Shot List

Every family session usually starts the same.

Mums got the shot list in her head. The dreamy images she's been saving. The outfits are sorted. The kids are dressed in their best, briefed, maybe even bribed on the way there.

Everyone arrives knowing what's expected.

Then there's the point at every session where it all starts to go sideways…Not dramatically. Just enough for Mum to know she may not be getting what she thought she was going to get.

Someone turns away at the wrong time.

One child refuses to stand where they're told.

Another disappears completely.

One doesn't even want to be there at all.

Another one is bored within the first five minutes.

Then there's one parent that becomes the "just" parent…

"Just stand here for a second."

"Please, just this one."

"Just one more."

Everyone shows up with the same version of how it's supposed to go.

The shot list is built around that version.

Children aren't.

Children don't care about "nice light" or what mum wants (sorry Mum).

They’re unbothered by everybody in the family being together at the same time.

They find something else to commit to & commit to it completely.

A stick

.A rock.

Running around for no reason.

Shying away.

Sitting down when everyone else is standing up

.Annoying their siblings.

Pulling faces.

They're not being difficult.

They're just not interested in the same thing.

Honestly, that's where it starts to get good.

In the middle of all that, the shot list quietly disappears & something else replaces it......The stuff no one planned.

A Dad bending down to console a child, & they lean into him half hiding, half over it.

A parent stopping mid-instruction & just watching for a second.

A proper laugh that wasn't asked for.

A moment where no one is trying to get it right.

No one's lined up.

No one's being told what to do.

THAT's the moment!

It will override the post-session bribery on the car ride there.

It won’t match the shot list plan & it won't match what Mum saved on Pinterest.

But it's real.

And it's the unplanned shot list that usually matters more later.

The truth is, children don't care about the shot list.

While the shot list is carefully crafted and forms the backbone of each family session, it rarely captures the true attention of the kids. Their focus is on exploring, playing, and simply being themselves.

It is often a child's natural spontaneity that leads to the most authentic moments & brings the session to life....