GETTING KIDS TO SMILE CAN BE LIKE HERDING CATS
Your all dressed up and ready to take your Christmas family photo, but your teenage son or your 6-year-old trouble maker is refusing to smile. Goofy face, tongue out, and you’re desperately bribing your kid to smile nicely. This can be extremely aggravating as a parent.
I'm going to share with you a couple ways you can work around the goofy face.
THIS BLOG WILL GIVE YOU IDEAS YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF
Here at honest photography, I’m all about challenging the airbrushed, stereotypical portraits. So some of the ideas I have are a bit unorthodox however, they might just do the trick to get your kids to smile.
And if they don’t smile… It could make for the best result. I’ll explain. Some of the best family photos are hilariously honest and it makes everyone feel good to see them.
THREE TRICKS TO GET YOUR KIDS/TEENS TO SMILE
1. Try telling them NOT to smile. This seems counter intuitive but it could draw out a funny reaction. This works better for younger kids but it may crack a smile on the older one as well.
Reverse psychology is a fun technique to use on kids. If a baby is crying, you can make their cry sound funny by flapping their lips with you finger. The baby will probably start laughing if they realize how ridicules they sound.
2. Try to make the photoshoot their idea. You can get your kids involved in the outfits everyone wears or the poses you make.
This could make the whole process more meaningful and fun for them.
3. Try giving your teen a little swat on the back of their head. This is probably their type of humor whether you know it or not. In all seriousness, you can joke around like this with your emo teens in particular. Sometimes teens are just in the mood to not care about anything. It’s okay to pick on them for this and make them crack up in the process.
GO TAKE SOME FAMILY PICTURES AND GIVE THESE TECHNIQUES A TRY
You don’t have to be so hard on yourself or your kids. Just try to make it a fun and funny experience.
To take the best, most meaningful family photos, you just have to be more laid back about the whole process. Try out this mentality to get the best results.
All you need to do now is try out some creative techniques I mentioned above and enjoy yourself with your kids! Remember, some of the best family photos are imperfect on purpose.