C'mon, just smile!!!
/I was at the Lego Store with my son yesterday, and I noticed a lot of parents taking pictures of their kids and their creations. I also overheard them saying in exasperated tones, "just smile," "look at ME," and "c'mon, just one picture!" It was hard for the kids to stop playing long enough for their parents to get a picture, and it gave me the idea for this blog post.
Not too bad, but he looks really stiff. I can tell he just wants to get back to playing!
Some kids love the camera. You turn it on and they are in front of it and striking perfect poses. For the rest of us, telling your kids to "smile" sometimes results in resistance, arguing, and finally an awkward smile at best. I wanted to test this out on my son so I told him to hold his creation up and smile. This is what I got. I told him to hold it higher, and he held it up way over his head; not the look I was going for.
These aren't bad pictures, and there's nothing wrong with posing. As a photographer, I tell people to do it all the time. For me, however, I like to try to get a more natural look in my pictures. After I got the shots above, instead of asking him to smile, I started asking him questions about what we were doing while keeping my camera on him and this is what I got.
I asked him to tell me about his spaceship, and a look of mischief crept into his face. I asked him where the pilot sits and he turned the ship around to point. I asked him how fast his spaceship goes, and he zoomed it across his chest. None of these pictures have him looking directly at the camera, and none were really posed, but I think it shows off his personality and the moment of play so much better.
The next time you are out with your kids and want to capture a moment, try to set them up where you want them to be, and just talk to them. Snap away as they just be themselves. You may find that while you won't get the perfect traditionally posed shot, you may come away with something even better!
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