If you ask any photographer with younger children who the hardest subjects are to photograph, I bet 9 out of 10 would say their own kids.  We like to refer to it as the Photographer’s Child Syndrome (PCS).  My kids are definitely no exception and suffer from severe PCS.  While it’s never easy, I must say that my oldest two children have become a bit easier in the last year or two to photograph, although, getting a genuine smile instead of “sit and say cheese” forced smile/grimace is the real challenge.  Even so, I would prefer to take their picture and anyone else in all of Toledo over my youngest.  Not only is she in the worst possible age group for photos (18 months to 2.5 years) but she also takes PCS to the extreme.  She goes running the minute I lift the camera.  I have a bit better chance of getting a decent shot of her outdoors as I can usually trick her into looking in my direction every so often but in the studio, it’s a lost cause.  She knows what the studio is for and the minute I try and “stage” her the PCS flows full force.  I have not taken a decent studio portrait of her since she was 9 months old.  I told myself that when she turns 18-months-old I would force myself to give it another try but I chickened out.  I just couldn’t get myself to do it!  So this morning, while I was folding laundry, I got this great idea in my head that TODAY was going to be the day.  TODAY I was going to get a magnificent studio portrait of my now 22-month-old sweetheart (a term used loosely here as there is nothing sweet about her during a photo shoot).  I set everything up, got her dressed, had all my tricks and bribes ready to go, camera up and ready to shoot and…DISASTER!  Yet another failed attempt.  Well, almost.  I did get this one (and only one!) shot with near eye contact and a hint of a smile.  OK, so she’s smiling at the lollipop I have dangling over my head and is getting ready to pounce but it’s a decent shot nonetheless.  I suppose beggars can’t be choosers!