No! Freakin! Way!
Mark. the. calendar.
It's a September miracle.
If you haven't had the pleasure of actually meeting Alexis, you may not believe this, but the child is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph. No, really. Stop laughing. She REALLY is hard to photograph. The fact that I've posted a photo nearly every day for over two years has absolutely nothing to do with her ability to nicely look at a camera. It's a combination of luck, perseverance, and a heaping dose of help from my good buddy Mr. Canon.
There is a reason why most of my photos are candid shots; that's all I get. The exact second that Alexis notices that I have a camera in my hand, she absolutely positively always looks away. She doesn't hide her face or throw a fit that I'm taking a photo, she just finds something really interesting somewhere over there--where the camera is not. Every time. If she happens to be looking at the camera and smiling, it's because I tricked her.
I'm cool like that.
But tonight, tonight there was a miracle. I said the crazy words, "Alexis, can I take a pretty picture of your teeth?" AND! AND!
Sorry, I can't contain my excitement.
I asked to take a photo of her teeth and Alexis turned and ACTUALLY SMILED AT THE CAMERA!!!!!!
(Ridiculous number of exclamation point absolutely necessary.)
(I do have a witness to the "I Don't Do Photos" phenomenon. Gina mentioned it one time.)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Reader Comments (43)
And what a great smile it is. Your candid shots of her are great, you know. Even if she doesn't cooperate! :)
And, what a stellar shot it was, too. Way to grin, Alexis. Way to do your job, Mr. Canon. Way to slip me the tongue, Burgh - oh. Did I say that out loud?
Ooooo. Nice. And really, her entire face is adorable, not just those teeth.
I'll have to try that trick on Happy. It seems that the camera is his enemy lately. I take pictures all the time but, like you, I never really get the whole face shot. Tricky parenting just paid off. Good job!
Bwahahahahaha!
Love that you got a great pic, but what's with AFF? Horn much?
I'm always trying to get candid shots of my kids, but as soon as the see the camera, they're cheesing it up big time, the falling al over me to get me to show them the picture.
My nephew, on the other hand, until recently, would not let me take a picture of him for anything. The best photo I have of him from before is when I cralled around on my mother's kitchen floor for 30 minutes, until I finally managed to sneak up on him.
Mr. Canon clearly loves her . . . she is gorgeous. Seriously, I think we all knew this, but wow!
Beautiful, BB.
So THAT'S what she looks like! Heh.
She's gorgeous - but of course, you already knew that.
Oh my gosh, that is an amazingly cute picture.
FRAME IT! Quick, quick, quick frame it!
That is beautiful!!!!
Oh and what a sweet smile it is. No wonder you work tirelessly for it!! : )
Now wasnt that a sweet thing for her to do? It is a mircle and we should definately mark the calendars maybe even make it a holiday another day off work woohoo definately works for me.
And she is a beauty! Good job, mom!
That's pretty darn cute. Maybe she's on to you now.
Yo. That is one flippin' great smile too!
Could totally eat her up.
And girl, I have NO pics of Boo. They are all of his hand in front of his face. Damn child
Well, tell her we all think she has absolutely beautiful teeth! Maybe she'll start to cooperate more? Pfft...yeah, sounds like that'll happen!
Peace - D
I had a great trick when my kids were that age for getting smiles. I had them sing the ABC song (a little slowly) and when they got to E I would snap a picture!
That's a great smile! Be grateful it's natural. My kids used to do the "cheesy smile". Not so natural and only for the camera. Ugh.
So this is the kid you get to see every day! ahhh she's gorgeous! You're right, it is different than the candid shots but I love all the pics you post. It's hard not to be cute when you're just darn cute (even when you're stuck in a baby doll highchair *S*) You could totally market some Burgh Baby Chronicles bumper magnets, mugs & T-shirts. I may even put a magnet on my car *L* Thanks for sharin'
Gorgeous. And, however you do it, you always manage to get great shots of her. Weird thing happened to me a couple days ago. Dylan brought the camera bag over to me to take his picture! I wasn't sure who this kid was, but I needed to take pictures of him immediately before he warped back into Dylan. The freaking battery was dead!
The photo is fab, and Alexis is gorgeous, but my favorite part of this post is your admission to tricking her into smiling.
I was a giant believer in using trickery to get my own way when the kids were small. I had a million of 'em, and proud of it. It was my way of making things peaceful and fun. And it saved my mean mommy voice for emergencies only, which was a good thing.
That is a beautiful smile and picture. I have to get candids of my kids now, so they don't look totally ridiculous with their fake smile. Enjoy it while you can!
Great pic!
Doesn't it suck to look through hundreds of shots from a great day and not get one good one!
This is def a keeper!
Did you circle it in red on your calendar? That's awesome. :)
She is so cute!!! I love all of the pics of her.
What an absolutely perfect picture!!! Congrats on the great shot!!
What a brilliant trick to get a smile. I MUST try it!
Gorgeous photo!
awesome, possum!!
and those are some killer choppers she has too.
Great shot. Kids get photographed way more now than they did when mine were little and you had to pay for film and developing. Now it's like free! Well, once you get $800 camera paid for of course.
So gorgeous!!!!
Aaawww... Would you kill me if I said I like the candids better?
awwww and she has such pretty teeth too!
That's fabulous!! Love the shot, she's so sparkly!!
I love all the candid shots because you get such great angles, but this is pretty awesome too :-)
Oh, the smile!!!! So sweet!
she is just too much. What a darling little girl. Great shot!!!!!
(Excessive use of the exclamation point right back atcha wumin!)
@honeywine--Actually, I agree, but it was nice not to have to work for a photo for a change!
So. Stinkin'. Cute.
Aww!
Perfection :)
ooh, she's warming up to it :-)
if Stella seeing I'm taking a pic she walks towards me. Just as annoying.
My husband and middle son hate the camera, they hide their faces. Little Miss will pose for the camera, but she is a 9 year old diva. The animals on the other hand do not hide from the camera but rather look away!
She is a beauty!!!
That is a great shot, however the opposite issue can be a problem as well. I cannot get a candid shot of any of my kids because the second they see the camera they start hamming it up. I love candid shots and most of mine have them mugging it up!
oh what a perfect smile too! congrats BBmom!!!
Oh, that is a fantastic picture! What a great smile! It's nice to see it.
We are struggling with a similar problem. When the Pumpkin sees a camara or even cell phone held up like a camara, she immediately looks away and starts moving. She. Will. Not. Stay. Still! Drives us crazy.