How do you deal with kids/family not wanting their pictures taken?

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How do you deal with kids/family not wanting their pictures taken?

Was just wondering how you deal with kids/family that doesn't want their picture taken?

I know as a teen, I want through a bit of a time like that with my dad, hiding from the camera on him, feeling self-conscious about my frizzy hair and braces.

Today's my daughters 21st birthday, and again I'm having troubles with her not wanting us to take a picture of her. My son just went out get a movie for us to watch after we couldn't agree/find one on Netflix, and my hubbies asks "can we watch something short while we wait"...then "guess we can't eat cake either."

I suggested that my daughter could get ready for pictures with the cake, and she said nope she didn't want to take pictures.

At this point, I'm not going to push it again, she had a disappointing afternoon when her best friend, after having asked if she wanted to go out this evening to celebrate, texted her back she couldn't ....when my daughter asked if her and her husband and baby son, wanted to come over for supper and cake. Her apparently her husband had a problem with allowing her to come over with the baby...(he didn't want to change his plans cause he's having friends over to party and drink.) Needless to say, my daughter came in crying...not being able to see her best friend.

Anyways, I thought we could discuss ways to help those that don't want their photos taken. What do you do to encourage them to allow the camera, or do you just get creative about scrapbooking the events in another way?

It's funny that you mention that... In the past my eldest LOVED having his picture taken. Ever since he was a baby he would "pose." I swear he could've been a successful child model. But recently he doesn't want me to take his picture... As we were traveling down to PA, making numerous stops because of my back, I tried time & time again to take his picture at Hogback Mtn and he wouldn't let me. He would block me, move or what not. I was disappointed. I thought no big deal - I'll get more opportunities on the trip. But it rained the rest of the way down & on the return trip, so I only have pictures of my husband & my youngest... smiley

The only suggestions I can think of is you could take their picture when they aren't expecting it... They could be doing something in the living room or their room, and you sneak up quietly, from a distance, with a long-range zoom lens on your camera, focus in on them & snap the picture before they know what's happening... Or, you could be silly and sneak up on them with the camera & yell "it's candid camera time!" and snap their picture that very second. smiley The picture you get could be quite funny... Another option that often works (at least around Christmas time) is the old "I need to get a picture of you for Grammy & Grampy." smiley

As for adults..... I wouldn't dare take their picture unless they agree to it. My mother HATES having her picture taken, and got very mad at me one time when I did take it (and boy, did that show in her picture).

Candid shots. Secret shots. "Forget" the vid cam on the table. smiley

My mother is like that. She hates to have her picture taken, because they seem to remind her that she´s getting old. There has been so many years since she happily pose to a picture where herself is the focal point. However, she´s more comfortable if the pictures have a whole group of people (usually, all the family) and are taken from a long distance. Still like that sometimes is difficult to take her picture. When my SiL is taking family pictures, however, she complains less because, as they don´t have that much intimacy, she doesn´t want my SiL being mad, and, as my SiL is Japanese descendent, my mom thinks that take group pictures in every family meeting is a japanese cultural thing and she doesn´t want to be disrespectful to her culture, lol. So, at least, I have some few registers from my mother posing (and some others he never realised I took, because she was distracted and I pretended to be only showing the pics I already took to someone else :p)

I have also a somehow different problem: My hubby. When he is at a informal situation he can´t hold yourself of making silly faces when there´s a camera pointed to him. He don´t just smile, he needs to twist his eyes, open a big O mouth or a fish mouth, show his tongue, or so. He really can´t refrain himself. And I get very mad at him for this, because I think he looks ugly in this kind of pictures, and they are useless for my memory keeping purposes smiley He´s not a 4yo whose silly faces pictures looks funny. No, he´s really ugly when making those faces. And he took a really long time to understand that this behavior hurts my feelings and that he needed to try refrain himself of doing them. What made he start realising that I wasn´t just pretend to be angry when he does this, but that this behavior really make me very sad because the pics are important to me, was when I made this layout (it´s linked to the gallery):

It seems to help them realise how it was important to me; he seems to have noticed that I want romantic pictures and that this spoil pictures that could be nice ones, and he´s trying to refrain himself. Finally :p This semester I got some better pics of him...

@Lorien: I can see why that would be so frustrating... My youngest is that way, too. I really should scrap a page of all his silly expressions. He makes these "faces" a lot. And I just want a picture with a nice smile to keep for memories & to share with others just like you... You would get a good laugh out of them though - they are pretty funny. (I swear he thinks he's the next Jim Carrey smiley smiley )

My grandmother was the same way. We had to take pics from a distance, frustrating because we only saw her once a year at the most. We got a few chances as she lost the ability to know what was going on around her. When she passed away, she left a packet for her two children, it contained two professional 8x10s that she had had taken about 7 years earlier, which even my aunt didn't know about. It WAS very thoughtful and meaningful, BUT it would have been nicer to have been able to take photos with her and the family through the years.

Some how my husband was able to convince our daughter to let him take a few. It has proved a lot harder to get candides when we made the move to digital, the only cameras we have now and they are older ones as well.

My mom's gotten a lot better about us taking photos of her but I understand that frustration. When someone's not having a good day, I'd back off of the pictures even if it is supposed to be a special occasion. Her birthday picture doesn't have to be on the day. If you take one this week and use it in that layout, no one will know. In less emotionally heightened situations, we use bribery. If you let me take your picture, I'll let you..... (fill in the blank - more computer time, rent a movie, etc.)

One thing we have to do with my family of silly face makers, is take two photos every time. The ONLY way I can get a nice smiling picture is to promise to take a silly/crazy photo too. I find I like the silly pictures best because that's really how we roll!!!