just wants to hit things—including the feather. Let that
work for you. Usually this toddler loves slapstick humor
and extremely loud noises.
Taste.Stacy uses taste as a huge motivator for toddlers
of all ages—as well as a funny face amplifier. If a six-
month-old hates to be on her tummy and cannot do any-
thing but fuss and cry, try putting a tiny dot of sugar on
the end of her tongue. This will distract her and perhaps
change her behavior. This technique has about a 50-per-
cent success rate with six-month-olds, but it works 90
percent of the time with two-year olds.
“Don’t use sugar during a photo session until ab-
solutely necessary,” Stacy warns, though. You can never
go back once the candy has been brought out.” Do not
let Mommy control the candy. “I don’t need to tell you
that for an eighteen-month-old child, candy will make
you their best friend. But they can become quite de-
manding and very upset quickly if they are willful, tired
children,” she notes.
Loud Noisevs.Soft Noise.A loud noise (not from a per-
son but from an object) will often stop a fussing child.
You can almost guess that a child is not really upset when
any distraction that comes their way stops them from
fussing long enough to see what is going on. You might
need to be very loud for the baby to hear you.
A soft noise will make a toddler look at you with great
interest—especially if they are already verbal. If they are
new to speaking, try to understand what they are saying.
New talkers love to converse.
Ask Familiar Questions.Ask the parents what names
the child will recognize—including pets, siblings, etc.—
then formulate some questions. Asking, “Where is
Buster?” or “What sounds does Buster make?” you’ll
often get a quizzical looks. The child will wonder, “How
do you know that I have a dog?” Engage them in ques-
tions they can answer verbally (“What is your sister’s
name?”) or even by pointing (“Where is your nose?”)
Use Reverse Psychology.Say, “Don’t touch those bub-
bles,” then act surprised when they do just the opposite.
You can even try, “Don’t lift your shirt to show me your
belly button,” and of course they will do it with a humor
of defiance. Try overreacting with a statement like, “I
can’t believe you did that. Stop doing that to me!”—or
whatever gets a laugh.
Try Slapstick Humor.Toddlers have two different reac-
tions to slapstick type humor. Some very much enjoy see-
ing the photographer feign a ball hitting their head,
running into the light or camera stand, or something else
just as silly. Most will also like to see their parent engage
in this same behavior. However, there are a few very pro-
tective toddlers out there who will get extremely angry if
you do even the slightest joke with a parent.Stacy uses a set of eight musical bells with the sound range of one
octave. If a baby is awake, he or she will look toward a bell that
Stacy rings near the camera. This will only work once or twice;
once a baby registers a new sound, they no longer need to search
for it. This is why she has all eight tones on the set. If she changes
the tone, the baby will again start to look for the new sound with
wide eyes. Stacy says, “I can usually get a newborn to look directly
into the camera with this technique.”
84 CHILDREN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY HANDBOOK