“Look up, look here, say cheeeese… look at the camera puh-lease.” We beg, we plead, we dance around like crazy people and when it comes right down to it, cameras are not appealing to little people. They are not colorful, they do not have eyes, and they are always popping up and obstructing the faces that your little one loves the most…yours! Toss in a Halloween night when there are so many other things to look at and how will you ever get your little duck to look up at the camera?
Here’s a little trick I use on sessions with my clients. Make a costume just for your camera! A quick piece of elastic, some extra fabric from the costume making, a couple of googly eyes and your camera will be shouting “Quack, quack look at me!” This trick works best when it is unexpected, so keep it stashed in your back pocket until the right moment.
Not up for sewing? Before my crafty mom made my set that includes a duck, owl and tiger, I experimented with sticking eyes to hair scrunchies to wrap around the lens. For smaller cameras, you can wrap a tie around the body of the camera.
This trick will work year round. I’m thinking I need a reindeer in my collection, or maybe a little Santa with a beard and a hat.
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October 26th, 2009 at 11:44 am
What a great idea! Fun and clever. Beautiful shot of your own duck, too.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
That is a great tip. I was jumping around like a crazy person to get my three kids to smile last week…
October 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
JESSI,
YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!! I LOVE THIS IDEA OF DECORATING YOUR CAMERA TO CAPTURE LITTLE ONES ATTENTION!!!! MY 2.5 YEAR OLD NEPHEW USED TO BE MY PERFECT LITTLE MODEL UP UNTIL ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO AND I’M CHASING HIM AROUND SNAPPING LIKE CRAZY HOPING TO HAVE A HANDFUL OF PHOTOS BY THE END OF THE VISIT!!! THIS IS PERFECT TIMING!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY IT OUT WITH MY 2.5 YEAR OLD NEPHEW MASON!!! THANKS SO MUCH YOUR ARTICLE IS SO HELPFUL! YOUR SON IS SO ADORABLE! I LOVE THE PHOTOS!!!
October 27th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I love it!! You could market this idea! …ps…What type of lens do you have on your Canon and what do you use for portraits?
October 27th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Jessi – this is brilliant!! Like Ann said you could market this idea. I’m with Toni, my niece is also 2.5 years old and NEVER looks at th camera. In fact, she now says No JoJo – or Stoppp!! Sometimes i catch her, but i have to keep snapping and sometimes i get lucky.
My camera has a bright orange light, so when I press down it is bright. I try to be quick,
Thanks Jessi for this article.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:17 am
How funny! I love it… and have to give it a try. My 2 yr old will NOT look at the camera… ever! Awesome suggestion and I am definately going to work on this!
May 19th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
This is such an awesome and creative idea. I will surely be trying this this summer. What a great little tip and something that can be soooo useful. Thanks!
October 5th, 2010 at 10:36 am
this is a FANTASTIC tip — thank you! so, is your mom selling these costumes for cameras on etsy or where can i get one???
October 5th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Great idea! I found an etsy site that sells them: http://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyAcresFarm?ref=seller_info
October 5th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
This is a fantastic idea, I love it! Whenever I am trying to get my little gbaby to look at the camera I say “Look at the doggies” she looks, lol, it works but not for long! I will for sure be doing this! Thanks to you Jessi, CREATIVE GENIUS!