Many times when we attempt to take a photograph of our children or the whole family, we stage the photo. We want everyone to strike the perfect pose, get in just the right position, and give us a perfect smile. Sometimes posed photographs turn out nice. Other times, not so much.
Personally, I’ve found that the best way to make a staged photo work is to make everyone laugh just before you snap the picture. Calling out something silly like, “Everybody say Krabby Patties!” usually works on the little ones. Whatever it takes. If you get everybody to laugh then you don’t end up with any phony smiles, blank stares, or that teen face.
Still, I really prefer those spontaneous shots that sort of just happen. You’ll see the kids piling on Dad in the living room and sneak up with the camera. You say, “Hey!” and everyone looks. You have a fraction of a second, and you take the shot. To me, these are some of the most adorable pictures.
The look of surprise is always fun to capture, and you get the bonus of photographing your little monsters (I mean angels) in their natural habitat. Those spaghetti covered faces are pretty cute, but those “Now you’re busted!” shots where you catch your child up to his knees in a mud puddle make fun keepsakes (they’re great for teasing your kids when they get older too).
Back when I had to buy rolls of film and had to pay to have even the worst photos developed, I was more likely to try to stage photographs. Now, with digital cameras, we can just snap away and only pay to print the ones we like. I tend to keep most of them on the computer or save them to disks even if I don’t have prints done right away.
It’s good to save as many as you can. You just never know when you’ll need that hilarious picture where your daughter looks like she’s facing a funhouse mirror. It might come in handy when some silly boy shows up to take her out, or when she’s being a little drama queen. :o)
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