Get the picture focused just right while giving the children instructions to get out of the way if needed. Staged shots are not my preferred photos. By bringing children to the scene, faces with natural expressions can be obtained rather easily. An occasional soda purchased along the roadside, a bag of chips and a hundred yen piece is a great reward for the actors. This is also an ideal time to capture some great candids of your own kids, when they least expect it.
Candid shots show the true personality.
I much prefer those to the ones with cheesy grins and yellowed incisors. When not traveling with children, I have been so bold as to ask permission to take a photo, using gestures, smiles and at least two bows with my limited Japanese greeting of the day. In many cases this has worked, but it s difficult explaining that you d rather not have the Nixon-styled peace symbol of the seventies held up near their face. It's a given and unless you can zoom in to avoid the fingers, you will always have two digits displayed. I have a treasured photo of a farmer from Tori whose age and hard life were reflected in his hands and fingernails, so this familiar gesture became a bonus.