Child Photography – The Power of a Fake Laugh

You know what? It’s totally cool to fake a laugh while having your photo taken and I encourage my clients (especially children) to try it. It feels really stupid, but it pays off big.

To get my kid clients to laugh, it usually just takes a poop joke or anything silly but sometimes, they just freeze up. So I encourage them to fake laugh. “It’s ok,” I say… “I know I’m rubbish at telling jokes. Tell you what how about we just pretend laugh?” And you can’t make your subjects feel stupid alone – you have to throw the first few out there! Sometimes your crazy, maniacal throw-your-head-back fake laugh is enough to make them laugh for real. And sometimes, it just shows them that it’s ok to look like an idiot.

All the laughs on this page are fake. And yes they all felt stupid but they also paid off in the end!

Great tip for fake laughing: Ask you kids to hold their arms across their belly (like when you’re holding your belly in a for-real gut busting laugh). And then when they laugh for real or pretend, it will look even larger on camera.