Difficult little one

**jventer** · 06-26-2010, 08:14 AM

I had this little one in the studio the other day, and boy oh boy did I battle to keep her still. Everytime when she sees me picking up the camera she goes NO NO NO, eventually managed to take a shot or 2 from her.
How does one get the little ones to co operate?

**Matt K.** · 06-26-2010, 08:22 AM

Were any of the parents present? Parents need to be there to help distract the subject from what's happening ... then at the right moment you try and get the kid's attention. I remember my dad's studio ... he had a hand puppet in his left hand, camera on tripod; he would animate the puppet, so the kid would look at it instead directly into the camera. Holding the puppet close to the camera it made ususally for great shots. I suppose a sock puppet would work.

Anyway, I think you got off a great shot, looks nice and does not reflect at all the stress you were under .. good job!

**jventer** · 06-26-2010, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Matt K.

Were any of the parents present? Parents need to be there to help distract the subject from what's happening ... then at the right moment you try and get the kid's attention. I remember my dad's studio ... he had a hand puppet in his left hand, camera on tripod; he would animate the puppet, so the kid would look at it instead directly into the camera. Holding the puppet close to the camera it made ususally for great shots. I suppose a sock puppet would work.

Anyway, I think you got off a great shot, looks nice and does not reflect at all the stress you were under .. good job!

Hi, Matt yes the mother was present, but for some reason she would not even listen to the mother, this is my first time that I struggled with a child! I think the hand puppet idea is excellent, will make me one and use it for future.

**Bambi** · 06-26-2010, 08:43 AM

I can't advise re: photography specifically but I have worked with preschoolers for the past 14 years. The trick is to never engage in any thing that requires you to convince them of something. here are some things I have found successful in getting them to participate in therapy or assessment:
1. give them time to warm up - have some toys around and just let them play for a few minutes
2. make sure that the parents arent nattering at the child- 'come on, look at the lady', 'smile', 'sit here'
3. never ever ask a question if you don't want the answer. For example 'do you want to get your picture taken?'. you are then begging for the answer of 'no'. For adults, we use these types of questions in order to be polite but kids take the questions literally. Think of it as though someone asked you 'do you want to clean the toilet?'.
4. if the child is shy with you just ignore- no eye contact unless they initiate it. often they will react negatively if they have any stranger anxiety.
5. use distractions like puppets, toys, bubbles. Bubbles are a huge hit with children and may result in some neat photos too.

and sometimes the child is just not going to cooperate and there's nothing you can do.
good luck

**jventer** · 06-27-2010, 05:48 AM

Originally Posted by Bambi

I can't advise re: photography specifically but I have worked with preschoolers for the past 14 years. The trick is to never engage in any thing that requires you to convince them of something. here are some things I have found successful in getting them to participate in therapy or assessment:
1. give them time to warm up - have some toys around and just let them play for a few minutes
2. make sure that the parents arent nattering at the child- 'come on, look at the lady', 'smile', 'sit here'
3. never ever ask a question if you don't want the answer. For example 'do you want to get your picture taken?'. you are then begging for the answer of 'no'. For adults, we use these types of questions in order to be polite but kids take the questions literally. Think of it as though someone asked you 'do you want to clean the toilet?'.
4. if the child is shy with you just ignore- no eye contact unless they initiate it. often they will react negatively if they have any stranger anxiety.
5. use distractions like puppets, toys, bubbles. Bubbles are a huge hit with children and may result in some neat photos too.

and sometimes the child is just not going to cooperate and there's nothing you can do.
good luck

Thanks Bambi, this child was in a studio before, I think she was just scared of the lights.