4 Year Old Child Portraits by A Massachusetts Professional Photographer
As your child gets older, it’s easy to prioritize professional photos less. At four years old, your child may be in pre-school and attending sports or art classes. Life gets hectic! But this is honestly a wonderful time to get portraits taken!
Four year olds are often silly and playful and so much fun to be around. They’re curious and learning something new every second. They usually have big personalities and I want these personalities to shine through in their portraits. Which is why the most important thing about these sessions is that your children feel comfortable and that they have fun.
In a typical session, it is myself and an assistant. My assistant helps make sure your family is looking camera ready. She also helps get smiles! Believe me when I say we are not too proud to do much of anything to get giggles! We’ll sing (badly), we’ll dance (probably worse), we’ll tell as many knock knock jokes as we know, and make some up if we have to.
4 year old children are definitely in their own category. Not quite toddlers, not quite big kids, but 100% fun. Keep reading to learn more about 4 year old child portrait photography.
To read my guides to other ages of baby and child portrait photography, check out my 2 year old post and my 3 year old post.
Tips For Photographing 4 Year Old Children
I also try and involve parents as much as I can in any child portraits, including four year photos. It’s good that your child sees that we are comfortable with each other. So getting mom and dad to act silly helps to get the smiles and laughs and genuine interactions.
If there are siblings, we can get them involved, too. Older siblings can be helpful since little ones tend to copy their big siblings. Sometimes we can get the older kids to act silly with us in order to make their little brother or sister smile. But little siblings can be just as helpful. Not only does this make the younger sibling smile, but your four year old will be smiling, too!
Styling Ideas and Inspiration for 4 Year Old Photography Sessions
I love a themed portrait session. Whether it’s a newborn, cake smash, or older toddler/child photo shoot. I love when parents have a specific theme in mind to draw off of. In this post you can see some great ideas including unicorns and rainbows, or a little boho touch, like with our boho hoop you can see below. That being said, simple 4 year old child portraits can be just as stunning. As long as your child is happy and comfortable, their portraits will be perfect. For timeless and classic child clothing, I recommend Boden, Janie and Jack, or Primary.
At four years old, your little one still might not be great at vocalizing that they aren’t comfortable in their outfit. Which is why it’s best to play it safe. If you know your child is only comfortable in certain outfits, then we can work with that for their four year portraits! Or if your little one is really into dressing up, we can try this, too. The key with kids is being patient and keeping expectations relatively low.
I have been photographing babies, children, and families since 2009. In all that time, I think it’s safe to say that I have photographed just about every age at least a dozen times. Which means that I have learned quite a few things about working with each age group.
Displaying Your Artwork
After your child’s 4 year old photography session it’s time to decide what to do with your photos. And if you’ve ever been to my studio, you know that I love wall art! Whether it’s a custom framed piece or a gallery wrapped canvas, I love it. And my home is the same way. I have portraits of my girls in the living room, in the hallway, in the guest room, in their bedroom. Basically, I have wall art everywhere. And not only do I love it, but so do my girls. They’ll be 8 in January and they get an absolute kick out of seeing photos of themselves when they were babies and when they were slightly littler kids.
Your 4 year old will love seeing their photos on the wall now, and they’ll love it when they’re bigger kids, too! And I can help you choose what photos to hang in your home. Just send me a photo of the wall you’re looking to decorate and I can digitally add your photos as canvases or framed portraits. Below are two examples from 4 year old photography sessions featured in this post.
Are you looking for 4 year old professional photography portraits near Andover MA? Crabapple Photography serves clients from around Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire including Boston, Stoneham, Burlington, Lynnfield, Haverhill, Reading, Salem NH and more. Kate McKenna has been photographing babies and children of all ages since 2009. Contact Kate today to learn more.
