Photography has been a lot like teaching. Always reading the room. How is everyone feeling? Should I move to the next activity sooner or push this one a little longer? Are we at sensory overload? Does anyone need to run and move?

And one of my many solutions is to let the kids take a picture. Using the Live View Mode on my camera display, I show the kids how to hold it and put their family in the frame. I make them direct their parents and siblings to smile. Smile bigger. Smile the biggest EVER. And we click and clack and cluck and then make a HUGE deal about the photo they just took. More often than not, it allows me to keep them engaged AND we usually get a few usable rounds out of it.

Photo credit: Jack, age 2