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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Photography Friday: Getting Genuine Smiles

Hello everyone, first off I'm sorry this post wasn't up on Friday because I was busy with all the finals and studying. But a late post is better than nothing, no?
I just thought I'd share some of my latest photographs with y'all. I've decided to finally cross my "fear zone" and start photographing people. 
While taking pictures, I'm always looking for ways to capture personalities, souls, characters. You get cheesy pictures when you ask someone to say "cheese". Fair enough!
I always try to photograph people doing things they like. That way, they're more comfortable and happy than just awkwardly grinning at the camera.


I started off with photographing children. "Sit down and smile" never seems to work  here. I remember hating our school photographer so much as he always used to do this.
So I decided not to be this person and started researching for articles about how to get genuine smiles out of kids.
I learned some great tricks that are now Tried and True! And with enough self confidence to try, I took these photographs:

 All I did was ask Adham which teacher he likes best! 4-5 yr old kiddos are always proud to talk to you about their life. Ask about their favorite toy or cartoon show (that's when your knowledge about SpongeBob comes in handy) and you're sure to get yourself some happy faces!


Whoever said taking kids' photos was easy never tried having multiples around! These little munchkins here were so playful and energetic that they just won't stay in one place for more than 2 seconds.
What did I do? A hugging competition! I told them I'm going to count to three, and that whoever squeezes the other more becomes queen.
Works like magic. ha!


Say hello to little Haya.
She's quite a laugher by nature, so I didn't really do anything here. I just chatted along and then made a duck sound in the middle of my speech. It did the trick!



This is my best friend Dina and her little sister Malak. 
I invited them to hop on over and join my Easter Workshop last weekend. They wanted me to take a decent photo of them together, and I thought they'd give me some cute smiles. But they didn't! The first photo on the left shows how they "posed and smiled" when I first got out my camera. Fail!
But then I remembered what an article I'd read once said about tackling. So I officially started a tackling contest between my friend and her sis! 
I got some genuine laughs and proudly ended up with this:

See how it shows they're not faking it? Now that's a picture they'd want to print out and hang, no? :)


And last but not least, my uncle and his little Jana. 
I never told anyone to pose, I just asked Jana to "Show me how you love daddy", and she did. ♥





I really hope you learned something out of this post. I would love to hear your thoughts and advice for me. I've picked up my first camera only 2 years ago, so every little opinion matters.

Have a great day,                                    

10 comments:

  1. Hi Roudi,

    I don't know why you're hesitant with your camera! These are great shots!!! I think you have a knack to helping people relax and your photos bring that through!

    I love horses. I have been around them since I was little. I had one for a short period of time and really enjoyed mucking up the stable (picking up after the horse).

    Hugs,
    Kay

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  2. Kay, you officially made my day by saying my shots are great! I love you! :D
    I love photographing horses too, but I chicken out every time I try to get a close-up. lol

    Here are the last couple of horse pics I've taken a few weeks ago:

    http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc372/Rodaina_Tarek/DSCF5129.jpg
    http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc372/Rodaina_Tarek/DSCF5131.jpg


    Love,
    Roudi

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  3. Awesome shots and great tips on how to get kids to smile...hmmm wonder if this trick will work on my own kids :)

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    1. Great to hear you like them! Let me know if any of the tricks work on your kiddos! :)

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  4. Beautiful pictures and great tips!

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  5. those are fantastic tips! I love the tickling and hugging competition. My kids would eat that up! I have to try it next time, thank you so much!

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    1. OMG Jessica's at my place! lol Thank you so much for popping by and I'm so glad you found this useful. :)
      Let me know if you're able to get any cute shots soon, okay?

      Lots of love

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  6. What great tips and lovely pictures. You've got it down!! Now if you could just go educate those school photographers, we'd be set!!

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    1. Thank you dear Stef! Oh yes I wish someone teaches them how to get real smiles, or sctually hire me instead! lol

      Thanks for stopping by. ♥

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Thank you for taking the time to leave me a little comment.

Roudi