Smile Photo Challenge Details

How the Instagram Smile Photo Challenge will work

Every week, for the next 4 weeks, we will choose our favourite entry and share the winner on our feed so everyone can enjoy. Each lucky weekly winner will win a copy of our popular Family portrait posing playbook AND our guide to taking sensation sunset portraits.  One lucky overall winner will be chosen out of the four weekly winners and will win a place the christmas round of our beginners online photography course!  If the overall winner has already purhashed a place in this round, they will be refunded – so there is no need to miss your chance to join just in case you win :).

  1. Take your best smile photo (It can even be one you’ve already captured, however must be posted to Instagram during the challenge week – see Ts & Cs below)
  2. Upload your smile photo to Instagram and add the hashtag: #CLsmilephotochallenge and tag @clublilypad_photo_courses
  3. Make sure you follow Club Lilypad on Instagram
  4. Visit the hashtag, soak up the smile and feel your own smile grow 🙂

One winner will be chosen each week and you can enter up to five images each week!

Now . . .  here’s a few tips for capturing those natural smiles

Capturing natural smiles!

Make it fun – not cheesy!

One of the questions I’m asked most as a professional family photographer is just how do I manage to capture natural smiles?  You’d think something we all do naturally shouldn’t be that hard, but lets face it – it can be really hard, particularly with kids or for “posed” portraits.

I have two simple rules that will give you the best chance of making it work.

Rule one: You have to make it fun! It’s really that simple. Keep it positive and don’t ask people to say cheese you’ll only get that fake square smile. If your photographing your kids, make it a game, be silly, crack a joke and no matter what you do, don’t get frustrated and bring out your “parent” voice – it just doesn’t work for photos. Instead, be as silly as you can. Try acting the clown or cracking a good poo joke. Seriously, poo jokes, they work almost every time. If your little one doesn’t even want to stand there, then give them something fun to do instead, something too focus on that’s not having their photo taken like looking for the dolphins, throwing the leaves or snow. With older subject, the same goes, relax them, chat, ask about their interests, don’t take the shot while they are talking, but the smile after.

Rule two: Be prepared. Get yourself and your camera set up, take a test shot or two, make sure the light is right, and then, and only then, call in your subject.  Nothing brings on the fake smile faster than having to wait while you fix your settings, or having to redo the shot over and over again.

Term’s and conditions

  1. Maximum of five entries per person per week.
  2. Entries must have been posted to Instagram during the weeks dates.  Adding #hashtags to photos already in stream prior to the competition week will not qualify as a valid entry.
  3. Challenge weeks run from 12:01am Tuesday to 12 Midnight  Monday AWST (Australian Western Standard Time).  Competition runs from Tuesday December 6th, 2016 to Monday January 2nd 2017.
  4. Winners must be followers of Club Lilypad on Instagram & Facebook
  5. As per Instagram rules, we must mention this is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram, Inc. By entering, entrants confirm they are 18+ years of age, release Instagram of responsibility, and agree to Instagram’s term of use.
  6. Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  7. Weekly winners will be announced on Instagram and facebook and contacted via direct instagram messaging.