the monkey test...

I read a great tip on the Mom Shots blog today and HAD to try it out!

This question was asked: How do you get those little rugrats to look at you so you can get those great eye contact shots?

The answer: Tell them there is a (insert item of choice) in your camera and ask if they could see it.

I chose a monkey.

After I chose a monkey I realized I should have chosen something else, because we like to tease our kids and call them monkeys. So when I asked if they saw the monkey they just said "yes, I see ME". And they probably could in the reflection of the lens. So their attention wasn't held with the game as long as I would have liked!

I tried it out on each kid individually...

Tessa did okay, but didn't last long. Grandma E had called a little bit prior to the picture taking and asked if she wanted to spend the night with her. Tessa's reply was to run upstairs, stuff her backpack full of "necessities" and then wear the backpack for the rest of the day waiting for it to be "time" to go to Grandma's... hence, the pink backpack.

I caught her "looking for the monkey"...



But she looked for the monkey until she "caught on" and thought I was just meaning her.

Next I tried Caleb. Who is 7 and much harder to trick than a 3 year old...



he caught on and was done with the game pretty quick... so these are "I'm only looking toward the camera because you are my mom and have the power to take away privledges if I don't" looks... but I kinda like them :)





Then there is Jonah. Sweet Jonah, who will do whatever I ask with a grin on his face...



he totally caught on but he just didn't care...



he even tried getting his soccerball in on the action...



Great tip, though!

I think it would work much better for me on someone else's kids :)