babies and toddlers (and pets too) have a special quality absent in most other human portrait subjects that makes them very rewarding to photograph: they are utterly unselfconscious in front of a camera, being largely unaware of its purpose. they don’t shrink, get shy, pose, act, or pull exaggerated/artificial facial expressions. the main challenge is to gain their trust so that they aren’t reacting (negatively) to your presence. and – you don’t have to direct them! possibly my favourite part of all

and because a post without a photo is boring: here’s joshua…

you might also remember him from such posts as this, this, this or this