When it comes to photo poses for kids, it’s all too easy to resort to bribery. “Smile at the camera, and I’ll give you a chocolate!”, am I right? We all know sometimes during a session you’ve got no choice to resort to it, but if you’re ready to try something else first, I’ve got some smiling kids photo ideas for you.
Free photo prompt ideas for kids who are prepared to get silly
Here are five prompts you can practice on your own kids right now at home (even if you’re self-isolating or social-distancing!). All you need are one or more three- to ten-year-olds who are keen to get a bit silly (i.e. almost any child ever).
How to use these photo pose prompts
With all these prompts, we’re trying to encourage smiles and laughter. The actual action you’re promoting the child to do is not necessarily the goal (although will probably make a hilarious photo). What you’re shooting for is the moment after the silliness.
Start with your camera ready, but make plenty of eye contact, and over-exaggerate your reaction to their response (especially with younger kids). When their face dissolves into giggles, that’s when you whip your camera up and shoot. Make sure you have your settings ready.
This prompt works really well with other active and playful prompts like Throw Stuff, and Ready Set Get Wet.
Suggested camera settings for these smiling kids photo ideas
- Fast shutter (1/200 or higher).
- Aperture wide to blur the background and draw focus on the child.
- ISO as low as possible for the light to keep shutter speed down.
- Shoot in burst mode to catch best expression.
- Use continuous focus mode and focus on the eyes.
These are all active, high energy prompts, so get into it, and the kids will too!
Idea 1: Show me your…
- “Show me your best surprised face! Great, now your best scared face!” (Repeat for happy, angry, best princess face, monster face, robot, ghost, etc.)
- “Show me your best Blue Steel! (For older kids – demonstrate yourself how to do it. Repeat for anything topical, e.g. Dab, floss, etc.)
Idea 2: Would you rather…
- “Would you rather eat three worms, or a peanut butter and pickle sandwich?” (Repeat for whatever crazy comparisons you can think of: dirt pizza or ice cream with tomato sauce, fly pie or chocolate-filled cockroaches, etc.)
- Let them suggest crazy ones to you and snap their laughter at your reaction.
Idea 3: Whatever you do, do NOT…
- “Okay, whatever you do, DO NOT SMILE!” (Do NOT give Mummy a hug, do NOT let Daddy kiss your cheek, do NOT lie perfectly still next to your brother, etc).
- Your over-the-top insistence that they comply is key to getting this to work well.
Idea 4: What’s the silliest…
- “What’s the silliest face you can pull?” (Silliest song you can sing, tell Mum the silliest thing you can imagine, etc.)
Idea 5: What face…
- “What face does Daddy do when he’s excited?” (What about Mummy when she’s mad? Happy, sleepy, cold, hungry, etc.)
- Good for kids who are old enough to have a good grasp of reading and imitating emotions.
Smiling kids photo ideas: creative extension
- Exaggerate the comedy: use a short focal length (10mm, 18mm, etc; I use the Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6) for fish-eye effect, or lie on the ground and shoot up.
- Shoot super tight, fill the frame with the expression and the laugh with no background (shoot the details), then the opposite: situate them in their whole environment, or capture the expressions of parents watching, etc.
- Get a group of kids together and out-compete each other, or compete with parents for the most over-the-top reactions.
And that’s it for this Get Silly prompt! I’d love to see what you produce when you try this out yourself.
One final note: this is my first post! Welcome to my new Promptographer Guide blog. I hope you enjoyed this first prompt post. I’d love it if you would share it with a friend to help my blog launch… and join my list for new prompts delivered to your inbox!
