Picture Day

It’s Picture Day!!

That means picking out what to wear, practicing smiles and last minute instructions from Uncle Larry on how to take the perfect picture.  This can all be fun for the child and parent or it can be stressful.  Here’s how to make it more fun.

Practicing smiles can’t hurt.  Or, can it?   Whenever anyone gets in front of the camera the most important thing is to relax and listen to the photographer.  The most difficult to photograph subjects are those who stare right into the lens with a forced, cheesy smile.  The subject can be so focused on doing this that it can be difficult to get them to relax and look normal.

Some children can be relaxed, engaged and having fun while I am talking to them with the other children next to the posing table and then get stiff when they get in front of the camera.  They have prepared too much.

Photographers have different styles or techniques.   We all do what works best for us.

If am your photographer I will greet you, pose you, set the camera and then take the picture when I see the expression I want.  During all of this I will be talking to you to let you forget about the camera and look your best and most relaxed.  I won’t tell you to look at the camera, smile or say “cheese”.  I avoid doing things that frequently get bad results for me.  In some cases it took months or years to decide something was a bad idea.

Your photographer may be much different.  Consider the photographer the “director”.  You get the best results if you follow the director.   If the photographer tells you to look into the lens and smile or even say “cheese”, relax, do it and have fun.

Picking out what to wear can be fun.  I still remember what I wore for my first grade school picture in the middle of the last century, a white long-sleeved shirt, red tie and suspenders.  I still have a few prints and the yearbook.    Several of the 20 to 30 boys in the six grades of Pompey’s Pillar School were similarly dressed that year.   That is not what we wore every day.  We dressed up for the occasion.  It was a big deal.

It’s great if you and your child can agree on what to wear.  But consider this.  It is important that your child feel good about what they are wearing.  If you cannot convince your child that what you like is the best choice, maybe what they wear is not as important as how they feel.

The most important thing is that your child looks forward to the experience.  If both you and your child are not having fun, maybe you are doing it wrong.

Pick out the clothes.  Practice the smiles.  But don’t obsess about any one thing.  It all works if you are having fun.

As advice to photographers and reassurance to parents, when I do have a subject that is staring into the lens with a forced smile, I take a shot of that.  Just in case.  Then I proceed to try to get what I think looks good. You get the best results if you follow the director.  But, you may have a subject that is not going to be lead.  Besides, Mom may think it looks cute

 

 

 

 

 

 

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