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Question: from Christina: “I have another question to ask everyone. How do you get your clients to pose with their family so it’s not so still and they are not always looking right at the camera? I cannot seem to get some of my clients to relax and achieve the style of photos I want for them. They want that look but I can’t explain it correctly I guess. Please help!”
Crystal: Get them to play together, read a book together, even laugh together.
Chrissey: If I have a really stiff family that I want to relax a little, I tell them to give me a second because I have to make some adjustments on my camera. Then, I pretend to mess with the buttons and not look at them. They always start talking or interacting with the kids or just relax a little. That’s when I snap. ;0)
Sheri: yes I find humor is the best solution…
Sheri: just take lots of pics and let them be silly and you will get one that is GREAT!!
Stephanie: I did a Senior Picture Shoot this weekend with a special needs girl. I had to work very hard to help her. Several times I had to do the pose for her that I was looking for and have her try to replicate it. Telling her to smile just didn’t work. I had to be creative about it. She also didn’t like to look at the camera so her mom would hold up fingers behind my head and make her tell her how many fingers she had up. She would then open her eyes wide and tell how many fingers! It was very challenging but seeing her go from shy and not looking at the camera to having a bright beautiful smile and wide eyes were great! You have to just figure out who you are working with and sometimes nothing works. Thats when you use photoshop to replace heads and smiles! 🙂
Corbi: Natural is always the best, it brings out the real person
Morgan: I often tell the kids it is their job to make mom.and dad laugh 😉 its fun and gets great smiles
John: yes i do all my shoots natural it makes them relax
Jen: I talk to my clients while I’m shooting. That way they arent so focused on what they are doing and it looks more natural
Geneva: Relaxing a group is often much more difficult than one person. Just remember much like in animals our fear shows! Lol
Monica: I like to use bubbles, pinwheels, play tag, have the little ones tell you a joke, mustache props are always funny!!
Sarah: I talk to them while I shoot, or joke about something within the location. I also try to be a little less structured with those kinds of families, such as getting the younger kids to arrange everyone or giving a vague direction. Sometimes it works, and if it doesn’t you can intervene.
Tyann: This weekend I had a family with 4 kids. They were a little stiff, so after getting them in place, I told them all to close their eyes and think of their fave animal. Then count of three to open eyes and say the animal sound. This cracked everyone up and relaxed mom and dad, giving me those great natural expressions.
Matt: I usually start my session with the stock group poses. Get the easy (and sometimes akward) poses out of the way while everyone is still afraid of that giant lens. While I’m taking those shots, I’m constantly talking to the client, cracking jokes, and reminding them that there’s a person behind the camera. Once I’ve captured a few genuine smiles from a joke I start to push their comfort level by asking them to do a coordinated shot (such as everyone jump on the count of 3 and try to click your heels). Usually everyone gets so giggly during a shot like this that they really open up.
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