Don't Smile!
December 26 , 2012 11:03 AM
Pet Peeve number one!
Parents - please don't tell your child to smile during a photo session...
Seriously! When a parent says "smile" the photographer gets what is known as the "cheesy smile". All teeth and no personality.
Some kids smile with their eyes and just a quick twist of the mouth. Some smile with their whole bodies. Some don't really smile at all. Usually I can get kids giggling and get a real smile pretty easily, but the minute mom or dad says "smile" all bets are off and now I have to work twice as hard to capture the real kid and not the cookie cutter school photo.
Recently I had 7 cousins for a family shoot ages 15 months to 15 years. At first the mom of the oldest teen boy kept telling him to smile. All I could get from him for the first 15 minutes of the shoot was "cheesy teeth" and stiff body. I finally convinced mom that "smile" was not in my vocabulary and did eventually get a much more relaxed and happy teen. He is one of those kids who usually smiles with a closed mouth.
Can you guess which one Grandma chose?

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