I have to admit, I’m purely going on my personal opinion here. That said, some of the best portrait shots I’ve seen by noted photographers did not have the subject looking squarely at the camera with a vapid smile on their face. Nope, most of the more interesting ones I can think of, not that I’m thinking very well at the moment being annoyingly sick, may not even show the subjects’ face at all. Looking back at photographs of Corbin, most of my images of him that tell a story are not facing front to the camera. In fact, one of the recent best doesn’t show his face at all! Not to say that classic portraits don’t have their place – a good mix is best, as in everything. Especially if you’re sending photographs to distant grandparents who don’t get to visit that often. More is better! (Frequent is better too, but I’ve turned into a lump of tired mommy lately.)
That said. Here’s Anarah at 4 months. She’s highly interested in what her big brother is doing at the moment. She’s watching every move he makes (and eyeballing nearby crayons with a speculative eye.) She’s so excited about what’s going on that I had to stop every few shots and haul her back up onto the pillow. Otherwise she was reduced to chewing on the pillow and slowly slipping below eye level because of all the kicking and wiggling. Big brother Corbin has been a great help getting good shots of Anarah. She’s so interested in what Corbin is up to that she tends to ignore the annoying thing hiding mommy and making noises.
You’d think 2 kids in that I would have this baby photography down pat. Nope! I’m still learning.
- Baby girls look a lot more feminine (when bald) if they wear a headband.
- Distraction is key. Siblings are great!
- Get on their level. Shooting at a downward angle hides their eyes.
- Boppy pillows are great photography tools. And no, I don’t get paid for that endorsement.
Image details: shot indoors in natural low lighting, with a pretty hefty ISO that ended up making a lot of images too soft to use.
MP Photography 
I always like people to look away.
Look like you are doing something else, or thinking about something….just don’t stare at the camera. It doesn’t look natural.
I agree! My biggest problem with my 2 year old now is that he’s a ham – he’ll do a huge fake grin unless I catch him unaware. So those are the best shots.