Top 5 Prompts for Getting Kids Candid Smiles
From an Ohio Family Photographer
#1 Red Light/Green Light or Run to me as fast as you can
Start by telling the kid or kids to run a little bit away from you and depending on the age if the kid is younger have them run back to you as "fast as they can." If they are old enough to understand your instructions trying playing red light/green light with them. You will explain to them to run when you say green light and stop when you say red light. I'd have them do it twice to guarantee you get some good smiles.
#2 Smile at your sibling/Parent
This is a simple pose but always give super cute results as long as you can tell the kids your photographing is willing to pose at their parents/siblings. Some kids don't do well giving still poses and need fun prompts that's totally fine it's all about figuring out what works best for each kid.
#3 Give MOM/dad a kiss
Tell those little ones to give mom or a dad a kiss. I like to see what the kids do if they want to kiss your check, forehead or a real kiss I just capture the moment and what they want. I do adore capturing those sweet smiles the kids give after.
#4 Run to HUG MOM OR DAD
I always love this pose, the kids get to run and have fun and the parents part in this is easy. Have the kid or kids stand next to you and have their parents/parent a little farther from you so you.get to capture the run and the hug. Tell the parents to hug them tight when they grab them also it helps with those smiles. I tend to shoot towards the parents and capture their faces when they get a hug from their babies but you can also stand the other way and capture the children faces.
#5 Run in a circle around your parents
Another fun running pose, I have found out parents really appreciate if you help make the kids tired during the session because it helps them out for the kids to fall asleep on the way home. This prompt has lots of different interpretations. The kids will run around in a circle around their parents so you will already be capturing lots of different facial expressions and movement from the kids but you can also make it different each session by how you instruct the parents to act. Parents can smile at you, smile at each other, or give each other a kiss.
