Take a minute...

Taking a little bloggy break today. Could you take a moment, the time it takes to read one of my usual fascinating posts, and pray for Stellan today. Today is a monumental day in his life. He is in surgery as I type this. His heart actually stopped this morning and they had to do the whole cash cart thing that should only be for TV, not a sweet little toddler. He had to be rushed to surgery even though not completely stable. Mckmama is gratefully keeping frequent updates on twitter and occasionally on her blog if you'd like to stay up to date. You can also watch my twitter on the left column of my blog. So say a prayer for Stellan, the McKinney's, and his doctors as they try to fix Stellan's heart today.

How do you teach them to smile?

So yesterday's post got me thinking about Bella. I told you how when she was little she was a happy, content baby but was hard to get to smile. Well when I received the photography packages from Bella's preschool I decided to go with the lowest package possible, because even though my precious little girl is beautiful, she doesn't take posed or forced pictures well (and by well I mean it's almost impossible to get her to smile nicely and natural looking). Here's a little glimpse:

(these pics were before our wonderful SLR so poor quality sorry!)

We would jump, dance, shake toys and we would get nothing!

There's a hint of a smile!

She went through this stage where whenever she saw a camera she would say cheese, made for a lovely smile. : )

She likes to "smile" but then won't look at the camera.

So do you see why my expectation were low? So when I got the pictures I anxiously opened them up.

Well low and behold to my surprise, her picture turned out adorable!! I almost cried. She looks so precious and like such a big girl!

Sorry its a picture of a picture so its not great, but I wanna know, how on earth did they get her to smile so nicely?! : )

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! : )

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Blog Hop- Favorite Photos....

Blog hop time again! This week is sharing our favorite photos. Which, since I've been very busy today and naptime is nearing the end, is better since I don't have a lot of time for words! Here is my favorite today:
Be sure to visit the other links below to see their favorite photos!

Trick-o-Treat....

From my sweet Tinkerbell and pretty, pretty butterfly!

I'm done!