Getting Natural Smiles From Kids

Jun 16

One of the biggest challenges in children's photography is getting natural smiles and not cheesy forced grins.

It took some practice but awhile ago I stopped saying "smile". It's no longer in my vocabulary. My style is more lifestyle photography anyway. That means getting interactive images that are more natural and not forced.

I get kids to smile naturally by bringing it out of them by playing with them, talking to them, asking them about things they are interested in, asking them to tell me something funny, saying funny things to them or asking them to show me something they like. For example, at a photo session last year of three boys under age 6, each boy was asked to come up with one idea of a photo THEY wanted to do. One climbed up a tree, one did a head stand and one posed on his new bike. All natural smiles! If you do things with the kids that interest them and involve them, they are more likely to feel happy and it will show.

Sometimes I'll ask parents to help by acting silly behind my back and then I'll act surprised. Or I might ask the child "does dad have a booger in his nose?".... That always gets a laugh. And then, you have to anticipate the smile and click the shutter at the right moment!

And then again, some kids are not big on smiling and if it's that just part of their personality, then we go with that. I like photos without smiles too, the ones that are pensive, thoughtful and evocative. I'll also photograph a kid when they cry or scream. Even though parents aren't likely to put a 20x30 canvas of their crying child on the wall, they tend to appreciate those memories too and often get a laugh out of them.

If you have kids at home, try some of these tips and see how you do. Remember, don't say smile and definitely don't say cheese! Let me know how you do! See more examples below.