Tips to natural smiles and expressions

If there is a camera in the room the most overused word in our language becomes “cheese”. Think about it. Then what happens? The kid gives the most ridiculous grin – totally fake. Then mom’s response is always “smile naturally, that smile is so fake”. I’ve even had moms in my camera room say that to the child during a session. This usually causes stress on the child and angers mom too. My response is to say chuckle and say “the only cheese in here better have crackers to go with it!”. I then continue to explain to mom we want to avoid that word, or to tell them to “just smile”.

1. Natural expression. Most times, no smile or a simple pleasant look, is so much more gorgeous than having a big smile. When we capture a child who is pondering something we’ve said, or interacting with a toy or sibling, those are the most precious moments. They are relaxed and having fun and you see the roundness of their features and wide open eyes. When you tour an art museum and look at paintings, they aren’t smiling back at you. These types or portraits are beautiful for large wall portraits.

2. Smiles. Of course every mom wants to see their child happy. Some families consider only a good portrait is one where the child is looking straight at the camera and smiling (a fallout from generations of dreadful school photos I believe). This is a great record of the child’s face and stage but we still don’t want all that “cheese”. With big smiles parents have to understand that the child’s eyes will be crinkled up. This is where I see parents decide that a more relaxed expression is nicer because you see the eyes better. But to get the best smiles. After all we are creating something artistic…not school pictures.

So what to do?

A. Just talk to the child, ask him/her about something funny that happened to them or a family member or about something relevant to his/her life. This will give you thoughtful and pleasant smile or even giggle expressions.

B. Engage his/her mind with a question or a toy. This will give you natural “look of wonder” expressions

C. Using a word that makes kids giggle. That will get them laughing, and naturally. Sometimes ends up with those fun belly laugh expressions! BUT THEY ARE NATURAL and no cheese was used!

Making clients of all ages comfortable is something we strive for here at Kaiser Fine Photography. When a client comes in for portraits, either family portraits or of the child alone, we find out what the child (or children) is into and get to know the child before entering the camera room. We will learn the child’s personality and make them feel comfortable, no matter how long it takes. Then we will use some or all of the techniques discussed here to give parents the look they want. Our parents love the variety of expressions they can choose from and we all have a lot of fun. All without muttering the word “cheese”!

I think there are two things that I’d love to stomp out in the world - parents saying “cheese” to kids and any camera wielding adult lining people up in front of and against a wall or sitting on a couch for a photo (it kind of reminds you of a line up photo doesn’t it? But that’s another blog post!).

Try some of these techniques. I’d love to hear what worked for you!