Ha!

Okay so I had to laugh when Heather asked if my kids always cooperate so well for photos. Ha! Absolutely not! Brynn has always been a good smiler. So I, usually, can easily get a picture of her smiling. But now she has reached an age where she wants nothing to do with sitting still for a picture, especially if her sister is next to her to distract her. As for Bella, she has NEVER been easy to photograph. As a baby she was a content good baby, but not a big smiler. And now that she is older, even though she is a good listener and will pose in any manner I ask she is impossible to get a nice, natural smile out of. She has a habit of fake smiling and not looking at the camera. So for every nice shot I have, I have about a gazillion terrible ones. My tricks for getting good pics:

1. Take a million pictures! Thankfully with the invention of digital cameras this is possible.
2. Get down at their level or stand up over them or something different than just standing in front of them.
3. Just play with them. I don't tend to pose the girls. I usually play with them or give them something to play with and just try to capture something cute that they do (ie: my three banner pictures)
4. I put my camera on sport mode. So it takes a bunch of pictures quickly and hopefully I capture something good!
5. Lighting is everything. Great, natural light makes for great pictures!
6. Try to make them laugh. Embarrass yourself, it makes for the best, natural smiles! For awhile when I would say, "Bella don't smile, no don't smile, what are you doing.." That would get a laugh or a giggle out of her and made for a good smile. She's over it now, gotta think of something new. : )
7. Take LOTS of breaks. Remain calm if it is not working. Let them run around a sec and then try again. The more you get frustrated the more its not going to work, so just be patient and try not to force it.

So I thought it would be funny to share some the NOT pictures that came with the ones I love!

So here is the type of smile I typically get out of Bella when I ask her to smile:

And then like I said take a million pictures. In all those bad pictures you're bound to find ones you like:

After many shots and LOTS of breaks soon enough great pictures will come!

Eventually though they will have had enough, so just know when to call it quits! : )