November 14, 2009 8 Comments

As the holiday season approaches, families are whipping out their cameras with high hopes of capturing that perfect family photo that’ll be cherished on your photo cards and mantels for years to come.

But… if your kids are anything like my littleQ, the perfect photo opp isn’t always in the cards (no pun intended!). littleQ actually does love the camera, just not always when I need him to. Last year I posted about our unsuccessful attempt to have a family portrait taken, and because of that experience, I’m going to be doing things a little differently this year.

We’re going to head to one of the many woodsy-like walking trails here on Long Island and take our own family photo. (Ugh, which we better do soon, because it is already mid-November.) I definitely don’t want to have to deal with another pint-sized meltdown, so I will be very, very prepared!

If you’ve got kids under the age of 5 and need to get this year’s perfect family photo, these tips apply whether you are going to be using the auto-timer on your camera or are having professional photos taken.

1. Make sure you and your kids are well rested. This does not mean letting them nap in the car only to jolt them out of a sound sleep to dive right into a photo session. This will most likely result in your child being incredibly cranky, which will result in many more face in hands, screaming on the floor, butt in the air shots than the angelic grins and devilishly cute smiles you seek. Just make sure the kids are awake, alert and not needing a nap, and you’ll be A-ok. Either schedule your session 1-2 hours after your child normally awakens from his nap to make sure they won’t be sleepy, or have him nap for an hour, two hours beforehand. (make sense??) As far as yourself, everything’s more fun when you’re not dealing with under eye circles a la sleep deprivation, but hey, I’m a mom too, and I know that running on 5 hours of sleep or less is just business as usual.
2. Don’t begrudge your child a toy! Just in case he seems antsy and begins to be unwilling, a favorite toy may calm him down. Plus, if you don’t mind a more relaxed mood, it may not be such a bad thing to have it in your photo… it’s part of his childhood memories after all, and depending on the toy can add an endearing quality to your photo.
3. If the weather permits it, have your photo taken outdoors, at the beach, the park or in a field. This gives your children a chance to run around, and it’ll make a good background, too. Natural sunlight is beautiful for family portraits! Just make sure you bring along a tripod, and don’t take a photo under a high, hot sun unless you’re under some sort of shade. That is, unless you like harsh, unforgiving and unflattering shadows and super squinty eyed, uncomfortably forced looking smiles. I don’t, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
4. Bring along a bribe. Yes, that’s right. I said bribe. Whether it’s stickers or skittles, pennies for the piggy bank or a balloon, you will be very, very sad that you didn’t heed my advice if you’ve got the perfect light, the perfect weather at the perfect time (we’re all busy, it’s not always easy to get everyone in one place!), and one of your kids would prefer to maybe not cooperate. Just make sure it’s a reasonable bribe. You don’t want to lug around a small (which is still kinda big) mini slot car racing track just like you don’t want to promise something that really isn’t on par with having a photo taken, like a PS3 or all the ice cream they want for a month. That’s just silly. I would go with the stickers, skittles, pennies or balloons. And please, offer it before he’s so upset that he’s hiccupping, after that your treasured family photo is pretty much a lost cause for at least another hour. Most if not all of us do in fact negotiate with our toddlers… whether or not we want to admit it.
5. Eat a good, satiating meal a couple of hours beforehand and/or have a snack on hand. I certainly don’t mean stuff yourselves, but didn’t you ever notice your kids are less cute and more pissy when they’re hungry?
6. Don’t forget the funny faces shot! You know your kids love it! Even if that’s not exactly the photo you’ll be including on your Christmas photo card, to little kids funny faces always mean a good time.
7. Closed eyes, frowning subjects, strange facial contortions immortalized in photos; these are all things we’ve seen before. A tip that many photographers use to avoid such a photo faux pas is to have the subjects all close their eyes and relax their faces. Then, on the count of 3, have everyone open their eyes and smile! Wait a beat after every one opens their eyes to take the photo. This will, of course, only work if someone else is taking your photo, you have a camera with a remote control or cable shutter release, or if you know exactly how long it is from the time you press the shutter when your auto-timer will go off. Then again, many of the most moving and emotional family photos don’t even have the subjects looking at the camera at all.
8. Still not cooperating? Let *em take a few photos! I don’t know if this’ll work with every kid, but I know that littleQ gets a kick out of taking a few photos with my camera and laughing at his shots of people’s feet, the fence, unfocused faces, his toy cars, etc. Plus it totally distracts him from whatever was causing him to whine and fake-cry just minutes before.

Most importantly: RELAX and have fun! And once you’ve got your family photo, make sure you pair it with a great Christmas or holiday card!

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