She Only Hates Bedtime More…
NikkiZ hates having her picture taken. HATES IT. I am sure this is all my fault as I have chased her around with a camera as soon as I was able to leave the bed after her birth. When I say, “Smile!” she either ignores me completely…
Or she gives me this god-awful “smile” that looks like she’s being tortured.
So. Now I have learned to position myself in weird places (on the ground, in a pool, upside down, etc…) so that I can have the camera aimed at her when she smiles on her own.
So – have you had a child like this? Will she ever start to smile for me or will she always scowl the second she sees the Nikon strap around my neck? Maybe I should start bribing her? I mean – I don’t mind the candid shots – I actually love them. But it would be nice to periodically show she’s happy and not dreadfully pissed off.
Mine does that weird-ass smile too. But I’ve been getting around it by asking her to laugh instead. She still kinda fake-laughs, but at least it LOOKS like a real smile.
I have taken a zillion pictures of my niece this weekend so far, only a day and half left to take a zillion more before she leaves. She is only 14 months right now but trying to get her to smile when I am taking a picture is hard. And if she is doing something really really cute? By the time I get the camera on, she stops. Especially when she turns it on. Thankfully my BIL was taping last night when I had her giggling up a storm.
I don’t have kids, sorry. I also rarely smile in photos, so I should just shut it. However, I can be bribed with chesse and chocolate.
My niece gets the fakest smile when someone tells her to smile. Drives me batty.
I don’t really like my picture being taken… even when I’m the one with the camera (check my flickr “me” tag). But I’m better about it if I’m caught unaware.
You always get GREAT pictures of NikkiZ, even more amazing when I find out she doesn’t actually enjoy it. At least she isn’t putting a book over her face every time she sees a camera yet! Don’t worry, that phase will come.
My son has taken to doing everything in his power to hide his face from me completely when I pick up the camera. It turns into a game of me trying to catch even a portion of his face in the frame. I end up with 386 blurry pictures and usually, if I’m lucky, one good one with him laughing uncontrollably.
You do what you have to do!
Both Gameboy & ThePrincess are the same way – Gameboy wipes his smile off his face and either does some eyebrow thinking thing or tries (and fails) to look like a hardass – ThePrincess always smiles this painfully large satanic looking brace face smile that reflects the flash & is frightening.
My best photos are always the stealth ones….
Same goes for me with my C. He has that awful fake smile – he looks tortured! I have used chocolate as a bribe to get smiles – but all I get is more fake smiles. I can’t stand it. And R, baby #2, I don’t think recognizes me without the big black thing in my face. Ah well.
The Girl! is the same way and she’s a year YOUNGER than NikkiZ. (I’m thew same as you – had a camera in her face from the second she popped out) I’m not proud to admit this, but one day when we were out painting, I wanted to take her picture and she REFUSED to look at me and, my hand to heaven, I said “If you do not look at me and smile RIGHT NOW, I WILL PUT YOU ON TIME OUT!” that’s when I realized that i have a problem…a serious, serious problem. Now I just accept the kid hates having a camera in her face. NO, it doesn’t stop me from taking pictures, I’ve just given up on her ever looking happy in a picture again
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I don’t get fake smiles, I usually get “No pictures!” or “No camera!” and the back of her head as she runs away. Or blurry shots as she’s turning her head. Not even the camera-away-from-the-face trick works since she knows I’m STILL taking her picture.
My family is all “Why are there never any pictures of Bean?” And I say I have tons of pictures of Bean…. of her head, of her feet, of her hands, of her shoes, of her screaming in angst. But they don’t appreciate that. Sigh. Can’t ever win, I’m afraid.
Where oh where did you get that adorable little dress she is wearing? Cindy-Lu needs one too!
Then they could smile that little tortured smile together.
I can’t get Eli to do ANYTHING on cue! He totally refuses to go along with all of my plans for pictures or getting him to make that cute seal noise on the phone for his grandparents.
It’s highly inconvenient, these children havings minds of their own.
My younger son would always try to grab the camera, because HE wanted it. He also had the weird smile.
He’s outgrown it all.
See, I’d never have known she doesn’t like having her picture taken; you get so many great shots of her actually smiling. My mother, on the other hand … lots of shots of me as a tot either scowling or doing that tortured fake smiles.
Mine do the same thing… until I ask them to say “cheese!” That turns the entire situation around. Good luck!
I too, love the candid shot. People ask why my flickr is full of pix where my kids aren’t even looking or why I take hundreds of pictures of what seems like the same thing. My daughter has always loved to pose. I actually have to hide so she won’t cheese. However, my son hates having his picture taken. He hides or makes faces as well.
wow! you take so many really cute shots of her!!! I always wondered how you got her interested; both my boys are totally going through a camera shy phase. I’m saying its a phase, no idea how it will turn out, but yup, I’m assuming that its my over-zealousness that did it.
Hmm Yeah this can be tricky I suppose, 1 nephew who doesn’t mind photos taken of him although he normally likes to show off in someway having somehow survive till now, he’s 10. It may just be a phase, maybe you need to see if you can’t get her a camera and see if she’s interested in being on the other side of the lens, and maybe just a little bribery…
Or just set the camera somewhere with a remote and point it so that it set for an area and try the I don’t have a camera so smile (and try and not get in the shot)/ self timer maybe?
She is just adorable, and you HAVE gotten good at capturing that smile. All the kids I’ve known who’ve had that fake smile grimace have grown out of it, and started real smiling for the camera.
Some of the best photos look natural. But i think you are doing well. She has the prettyist smile in the last two photos.
I’m sure I commented earlier (my son didn’t like to be photographed).
I must have said something you didn’t like.
I can’t for the life of me figure out what it was.
Would you mind e-mailing me to let me know?
Hello how’s your day going?
I think it’s great that you take so many photos of your family, it’s a habit I should really get into – but we have such a bad record with digital cameras, either they break after warranty, get stolen or like on my birthday this year I dropped it into the sea. Doh, doh, doh. Note to self, champagne, cameras and the seaside do not go together.
My older sister in the 70′s always pulled this peculiar sideways wry expression in all her photos during her teenage years. Drove my mum nuts.
What an adorable little girl! I bet she will grow out of hating pictures… It’s probably just a phase. In the meantime, you’re doing a fantastic job with the candids!
Btw, I just found your site today and I think it’s great… I’ll be back for future reading and archive surfing.
Sorry to tell you, but it only gets worse. As soon as I grab my camera in any situation, my girls take off running. I DO have to bribe them and whine a lot – real grown up stuff – but anything for a good picture.
You should see my son’s T-ball picture… talk about freaky smiles…
We taught our oldest (BigSpeak) to say, “no paparazzi” and put her hand up in a stop sign when she was 18 months. HI-lareous! I can generally get the girls to participate, Big more than Little. But, honestly, I prefer the more “candid” shots anyway.
If I’m trying to get them both to “smile” in my general direction at the same time then I’ll tell the Big one to laugh & try to get the little one to join in. Sometimes it works, sometimes, not so much.
My brother always gave a big grimace that looked liked a macabre grinning skull. He grew out of it at age 17. No kidding.
I, however, always hammed it up. Haven’t grown out of it yet.
When I have the camera out Lil’bug only smiles when her back is to me. When she faces me she will not look at me or the camera. I have hundreds of shots of her looking drunk or expressionless because she sees the camera. Fortunately, professional photographers can still get a nice smile out of her…as long as I’m there. At daycare, not so much, we’re lucky if she’s not looking like she’s been tortured.
Those cheeks! She has such a beautiful smile. If candids are what it takes to capture that, then hide where ever you need to. Adorable!
In the second one she looks SO MUCH like Leta (from Dooce)!