Getting natural smile from kiddo in pictures
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Anonymous
| I hear you! My 4 year old son has a beautiful smile but it’s impossible to capture on camera. His posed smile is a grimace! |
Anonymous
This is OP. This is hilarious. I don’t really talk like this at home (or anywhere!) so DD would be so shocked she would definitely laugh! |
Anonymous
OP again. Grimace is a good word for it. And for the people who say it’s because she doesn’t want her pic taken, she makes the grimace even when she has said, “mom, take a picture of me in front of this [whatever].” And then she says “cheese” and makes a horrible grimace with her beautiful little face. |
Anonymous
Yup. Came here to say this. We make fart or poop jokes. |
Anonymous
I do a combo of saying something to make them laugh and also take a zillion pics in hope of getting a few good ones. For my kid, it’s not about discomfort at photos, it’s just an exaggerated idea of what a “natural smile” looks like. Sometimes it’s enough to say “okay, now a picture where it doesn’t look like you’re going to bite me…” to get a more relaxed expression. |
Anonymous
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The farts advice is a DCUM classic! I love it and will be trying it this week.
My 4 yr old's posed smile (which, yes, is different from her natural smile) is still pretty charming so I don't have the exact same issue. For instance, her school photos this year are adorable even though it's definitely a "say cheese!" smile. But her new thing is that when she poses for a photo she looks away from the camera. Every time. It's actually pretty cute -- I took some photos of her with her dad on Christmas where they are both facing the camera and smiling, but her little eyeballs are looking off stage left. It's winds up looking goofy and sweet and captures her rambunctious and distractible energy at this age. But yes, I do want a photo or two where she's actually looking at the camera! I love candids though, and those are always the best photos I take. My tip for fantastic candids of little kids is getting a bubble machine or having an adult blow bubbles. Their little faces of joy and wonder! I have a photo of my DD on my desk right now where she is wearing her halloween costume and chasing a bubble off camera and it is the most charming thing. |
Anonymous
| We had a photographer one time that told us to pretend we're laughing out loud and the pictures come out great. I've used that approach since then with my now 7 and 5 year olds. They will be in less formal poses because of it and their smiles will look much more natural. |
Anonymous
| I also make potty jokes. It works. 🤷♀️ |
Anonymous
Yup |
Anonymous
| Just say something about poop. Works every time |