How to Get a Baby to Smile for the Camera

Calming a crying baby can be a agonizing task.

With the help of photography, memories of occasions and persons can be preserved for lifetimes and pictures are often made into photo albums for the remembrance of loved ones. Taking photos of babies can be difficult in that babies can scare easily in new environments or around unfamiliar people. Yet the task is not impossible and there are a few tricks that can be employed to get a baby to smile, laugh or at least stop crying.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Toys, props(optional)

1. Use props and toys. Display eternal stimuli in front of the baby to get a happy reaction that can be photographed. Dangle and move figures in front of the baby. Also, animate voices to get the baby to smile or look in a certain direction.

2. Tickle the baby. Tickling a baby often works to get him to smile or laugh. Use your fingers or something soft to the touch, like a clean feather duster, to gently tickle the baby's tummy and soles of feet.

3. Make funny faces. Contorting the face to make odd images usually can get the attention of a baby. Use your fingers, eyes, lips, nose and mouth to make funny and unusual faces at the baby.

4. Surround the baby with people she is familiar with. Parents and close relatives are often able to get a smile or happy reaction out of a baby as opposed to a stranger. Have relatives use the methods described in the previous steps when using a professional photographer.

Tips & Warnings

• Use things that work. If the baby takes to a certain toy, or is aroused by a certain voice or gesture, use them whenever the baby's attention needs to be grasped.

References

• Photo Biz: Baby Photography
• Kopenhaska: Baby Photography -- Say Cheese Little One