Which do you value more as a parent: the photo of your son or daughter dressed up in his or her best clothes and looking uncomfortable, or the fun shot that shows him or her playing with a puppy or up to the elbows in finger paint? Capturing a moment in a photo will - as time passes - mean more to you when you capture more than just your child's face. Photography is about preserving memories as they happen, not as they are staged.
That doesn't mean that a photography session needs to be completely unscripted: you can still create a mood to capture in the photo. Want to take a series of photos of your child acting silly? Put on some favorite silly music, tell jokes, laugh and have fun. When everyone is relaxed and having a great time, it will show in the photo.If you don't want to stage the shot that much, encourage your family to "pose" while they're doing something that they enjoy. If your wife loves to knit, take her photo while she's knitting. If your husband spends a lot of time working on restoring a vintage car, take his photo while he's out working under the hood. If your teenage son spends most of his time on a skateboard or you can't get your little ballerina out of her tutu, capture those interests with photography.
