Great Pictures
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Tips for Taking Great Pictures of Children
If you want to improve your pictures of children, here are a few tips and tricks that will help you get children pictures truly worth framing in school picture frames.
The best photographs of children tend to be candid shots, but if you are taking portraits of children, practice with your camera first because kids have a hard time not fidgeting.
When taking candid pictures of children outside, use an optical zoom or a telephone lens for best results. This allows you to fade a bit into the background. The more obvious you and the camera are, the more apt the children will ham it up or freeze and the less likely you will capture natural expressions. Also be patient. Let the kids get accustomed to being around you with a camera. Over time they will settle down.
Focus on the subject in the picture. Avoid trying to get everything into the shot and instead just focus on the subject.
When taking pictures of children outside, it's best to use "sports" mode or select a high shutter speed like 1/500 and a wide aperture. The larger aperture will blur the background when photographing from about 10 feet away from the child. Portrait mode also does this, but the nice thing about using manual settings is you can both freeze the action and blur the background.
If you have burst mode on your camera, you can also use this with children on the move. Burst mode will take several pictures in rapid succession, so you can later choose your favorite.
If you're photographing indoors and have good natural light, try using your camera without the flash since flash can be very distracting to kids.
Be especially carefully when using a flash when you're photographing babies. Before you use a flash, always check your camera's manual to ensure you're using it from a safe distance. With many cameras it will be at least three feet.
The best way to pose a baby is in her/his parent's arms. When posing children, always put safety first. When photographing a child and parent, show relationship by having them look at each other or at the same thing. To get baby to look in the same direction as the parent, shake a gentle noisemaker like a bean bag or small rattle.
When photographing toddlers, be ready to work fast. Always be prepared to take lots of pictures so you'll be sure to catch a few really good ones.
One of the very best ways to photograph a child of any age is to wait for when the child is engrossed in something that is really interesting to him or her and then shoot away.
Try to get pictures of those "firsts" like first step, first bike ride, and all those other important moments. And baby firsts always look great displayed in adorable baby picture frames.
Finally, before taking a picture of someone else's child, unless the child is in public in a group, like marching in a parade, ask the parent for permission. Although it is legal to take pictures of people (including children) without permission in public places, it is considerate to ask. Most parents would prefer being asked.
Preschool age children can be quite cute when interacting with other kids their age. Look for those buddy photo ops like when two little ones are holding hands or helping each other with a task.
As you can see taking better pictures of children isn't really complicated but it does require some time and forethought. And if you're a parent, take as many pictures as you can, because before you know it, they'll be graduating highschool and you'll be proudly displaying their picture in a graduation picture frame.
What Makes a Great Picture?
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