photography tip: how to get genuine smiles from kids

The most important element in a picture is the expression on the subject’s face(s). It doesn’t matter how cute the location, props, or outfits are if the smiles aren’t genuine, it will be hard to appreciate anything else. So, how do we get those real smiles and genuine expressions from little kids? It’s simple… MAKE IT FUN!!!

What happens when you ask a child to go clean their room? If that child is mine, it will most likely be a “Noooo… I’m too tired.” But, what if I turn up some music and go in their room and say, “Let’s clean your room together!” I get a much more cooperative child. Well, that same concept can be used when taking a child’s picture. If you tell them to sit down and smile, they will most likely give you a fake cheesy smile. They may even run off to do something else as if to say “Yeah right!” So instead, you join in on the fun!

You can ask my clients and they will all probably tell you that I act like a crazy woman while on a shoot… at least when there are young children involved. :) There are so many ways to make a photoshoot fun for kids. Today, I’m going to teach you my tricks! If you have any tricks of your own, I would LOVE to hear them in the comments below!

My arsenal:

I found this cookie monster ‘lens bling’ wanna-be in a dollar bin. It was one of my best purchases for sure! I slip that right over my lens and BAM, the kids have something fun and cute to look at. It looks like cookie monster and who doesn’t like cookie monster? If you can’t find one of these or if you want something more fancy, go check out Happy Acres Farms. She sells WAY CUTE ‘bling’ for lenses that put my dollar bin find to shame AND, she is super awesome because she is giving all of you 10% off your next order! Just use the code “THANKYOU” at check-out! ♥

Whether it’s from the dollar bin or it’s something fancier, it will help you so much! I have the kids play peek-a-boo with cookie monster or tell them cookie monster is going to tickle them. I play catch with it, I balance it on my head, I mean, really, the possibilities are endless! If you photograph little kids a lot, this is a MUST have!

I also have a harmonica. I don’t know how to play it. I just know how to make a lot of noise with it. I save this for family shots when I need everyone to look at the camera and when I use it, it works like a charm.

The last one is a last resort kind of thing…

I’m embarrassed to even talk about it…

But sometimes you get a REALLY difficult kid and you’ve exhausted all other resources. It’s at times like these that I have to bust out my ‘Fart Maker’ App on my iPhone. You do what you gotta do when photographing little kids. And, just so you know, it works well with older kids too.

My Favorite Poses

The best poses for little kids are going to be a pose and game in one! You can always do more of a lifestyle kind of shoot but, I really do love cute poses! Here’s a couple of poses that I do every session with younger kids.

1.) I have the child sit down but then look away from me. I tell them that at the count of three, I want them to find me as FAST as they can! I egg them on and make it fun. It works great and I get cute poses like this one:

2.) I have the child sit on the ground, a chair, or crate and tell them {dramatically} that whatever I do, they HAVE TO keep their eyes on cookie monster. I then run back and forth and every time I stop, I take a shot!

After each pose, I look through the pictures and make sure I have the “magic” shot before I move on. It always gets harder with more than one child so keep in mind that you can do a head swap in photoshop later! Anyone interested in a head swap tutorial?

Starting next month, my tutorials will focus more on how to use your dSLR camera as well as how to do cool things in Photoshop!

To see more, check out my Blog or Facebook Page!