You’ve seen it a million times– you take your child’s photo and you get either the “cheese” face or they look like they’re being forced at gun-point to be there, neither of which, are desirable expressions. It may seem like an arduous task to capture that adorable (and real) smile but it is completely feasible if you know the right tricks.
- Be friendly. Yelling at a kid to “smile right” is as crazy as It sounds. Use a calm voice and get to their eye level when you talk to them. No one likes a giant barking at them so remember to keep it light-hearted.
- Be silly. Kids love clowns and talking dogs and animated sponges so don’t be surprised when you stepping out of your adult comfort zone and making piggie noises or other sound effects doesn’t get a chuckle.
- Hurt yourself. No, not really, but feigning a stubbed toe or a bonked head is a surefire way to draw a smile out of even the most stubborn of children. They can’t help themselves — another person in agony is hilarious (and the television industry has been making millions this way for decades).
- Sneeze. Put a toy on your head and fake sneeze so outlandishly that the toy falls off of your head. It may look completely ridiculous but this actually works on adults too.
- Use props. Keys and a squeaky toy are big winners. Generally stay away from things that are already theirs because they are going to want to hold them, but noisy objects that rattle and chirp are nice ways to keep their focus and attention towards the camera.
- Make faces. Run the gamut from sad, to mad, to cross-eyed, to fishy, to monkey. This can backfire and result in the kid copying all of your expressions, but hey, at least everyone will get a good laugh out of it.
- Tickle. After a few times of crawling your fingers up their arm to tickle their ribs, you’ll start to get laughter from the finger gestures alone. Throw in a silly comment like “I’m going to get that belly!” and you should get some giggle gold.
Always keep your camera ready and have a finger on the shutter button. You don’t want to miss out on that perfect moment. On most cameras you can press the shutter button half way to allow it to focus, then get the child ready before pressing the rest of the way.
Most children have the attention of a gnat and the feet of a roadrunner. They are constantly ready to move on to the next biggest and brightest and if you can keep them entertained for a minute amount of time you will surely be able to capture that stunning smile.
