Avoiding the CHEESE Face

'Tis the season for family pictures so I thought I'd share some ideas on how to prepare for your session. I love shooting children. I'm a big kid so I love that my career allows me to dance around, sing and act silly and no one can judge me because I'm "just doing my job."

I know that it takes a lot of effort to get everyone dressed, out the door (still clean) and happy at the same time so I appreciate that you guys have worked hard before you even make it to our set location. That being said, a lot of times, when parents try to prep young child for a photography session it can actually work against us. Here are a few examples:

• If you're talking the entire way to the session (or days before the session) about how important it is to smile, smiling has now become a task. It's something they HAVE to do. That isn't what we want. Especially in toddlers, once it is a chore, we're fighting an uphill battle. It will be much harder to get a natural smile if they are looking at the session as something they have to do before they can go have fun. We want the session to be a fun/carefree time.
• Practicing smiling at the camera can also work against us because it triggers the CHEESE face. I see this a lot, even in my own children (they have a camera in their faces a lot). I have a hard time getting good candid shots of them because when they see my camera, they immediately turn around and give me the CHEESE face. Here is an example:  

So the question is, how can you help?

• Make it fun. You don't even have to tell them that you're going to take pictures. Just say, "We're going to see my friend, Maggie, at XYZ park. We're going to see the ducks and turtles and run around a little bit...yada yada yada" Get them excited about being there and playing. Don't focus on your expectations for them.
• Take notes of things that they think are hilarious and let me know. For example, with my little one above, she cracks up when people get hurt or fall down (scary!). I know 100% no matter what, if I pretend to fall down, I'm going to get a natural smile/laugh. Any hints that you can give me will help me to connect with them and get natural reactions.
• If we're taking family pictures, let me make them smile/laugh. You just relax, and continue to smile at the camera whenever possible and let me worry about them.  Lots of times, I end up with shots where the child finally smiles and Mom or Dad is looking at them rather than at the camera. If I need your help, I'll definitely ask.
• RELAX! I know this is hard because you've been working on outfits, getting ideas together, etc for months in most cases, but if you're tense or frustrated because they aren't behaving the way that you envisioned, they will pick up on it and it will show in the photographs. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you.