a visit to the pumpkin patch

Every year at Halloween I have dressed Liam up in some version of khaki overalls and have bribed him to sit next to a pumpkin for a photo. This year I had the delight in doing it not just with Liam but with both of my boys. Bear is now 8 months old and is sitting up independently. He also has a pretty killer big smile that he will share for the camera. And Liam, now 3 and half years old, will do just about anything for a box of raisins. So off to the pumpkin patch we went for a photo shoot!

I have lived in Charleston for so long that I don’t know if it’s like this in other parts of America, but here you can find a pumpkin patch on almost every corner in town. Churches, schools, and other groups love to do this as a fundraiser. So there is no shortage of places to get your pumpkin fix. In the past we have gone to Boone Hall Plantation for their huge pumpkin patch and festival. However by the time we get done sitting in standstill traffic to get out there and fighting the crowds for a good spot to snap a pic, no one is in the mood to smile. So this year, on a random Tuesday morning in October, I packed up the kids and we drove 2 miles down the road to the New Beginnings Community Church where just Liam, Bear, myself, and a 75 year old parisher named Herb who was working the pumpkin stand that day, had the place to ourselves.Tips to Photographing Young Children:

set your expectations low. don’t plan for things to go smoothly so this way you can never be disappointed. This is a good life tip as well.
Dress in coordinating colors but not exact matches. Your new born baby is too young and sweet for sneakers and your 4 year old has aged out of bubbles and peter pan collars. But you can still find interesting ways to coordinate their outfits.
Take lots of candid photos: the children looking at each other, looking at a pumpkin, etc. I know you want that one photo of both of them looking at the camera at the same time and smiling at the same time, but its just not going to happen. remember rule #1.
Set your camera on faster shutter speed so that moving arms and kicking legs will not be blurry. The majority of these were shot in morning light with shutter speed of 1/640, f-stop of 2.5, and ISO of 100.

Bear’s Outfit|| overalls: Carhartts || basic white onesie: Carters ||