How do you get a group shot of a bunch of kids?

I enjoy taking pictures, but by no means claim to be a professional at it. My hat is off to those people who have managed to get a great shot of a bunch of children. I am beginning to believe that being a professional has little to do with it- luck is the main factor at play.

After my experience with Sydney & Jason last Friday at Sears, it was no surprise that getting a group shot of Sydney & Jason with their cousins proved to be difficult. Try sitting an almost 3-year-old (Sydney), a 2-year-old (Liam), a 1-year-old (Jason), and a 4 month old (Mallory) on the couch & see what you get. We didn't get that "classic" shot that you enlarge to place on display for people to marvel at the wonder of your skills, but we did get some funny shots. You will note that trying to keep Jason on the couch was the main issue with trying to get the group shot. Mallory may only be 4 months old, but she looks as if she is trying to separate Jason & Liam from one another. Maybe she'll be trying to protect her big brother rather than the other way around.

Before the chaos, Brad got this cute one of Mallory

Sydney liked the task of trying to get Jason to sit for the picture

Which as you can see, was not a simple task