Tag Archives: Baby & Child Photography
Tip:
Try and play with the kid while you are taking the shots. You have two choices here: find something which will keep them focused for some time or try and play with them. One thing you can do, which is ask them to show you their favorite toy.Make them laugh. Kids look best when they are happy. Don’t be afraid to get real close to the child. Once you have earned their trust, you can come closer, and get some nice closeups. Try experimenting with a wide angle lens. Once you are close you can get some interesting results. Also don’t be afraid to use 2.8 or 1.8 apertures. As long as you keep the focus on the eyes , you will get a soft look that complements a child.
Be patient. Kids have moods, sometimes they are happy, sometimes sad, sometimes playful and sometimes just wanna cry. Another thing I have learned is that kids have their own pace. If they don’t want to be snapped , don’t force them. Put the camera aside. Play a little while. Let them relax. Once they have opened up, take an experimental shot. Show their pictures on the LCD, it is a great icebreaker. If after a while the kid stays in bad mood, let it go. Have a break, do something else, you can always come back to it.
Get some assistance from papa and mama. Mama can also be in the picture. Once the kid is playing with mommy, he (or she) will relax. Your earnings are twofold: you get nice shots of the child with his parents, the kid stops crying.
You will notice is that kids move fast. Use fast lenses and flash gun.Get big memory cards. Because you need to snap as much as you can. Try exploring different angle. You will find it hard to lock focus, to aim and to press the shutter release in the precise second. How can you overcome this? Take tons of pictures. If you try, you may end up with a nice picture or with a bad picture. If you do not try at all you will surely end up with no picture.
Get down on their level. If you stand and shot as the adult eye level, you are going to get a very normal picture, flat and boring stuff usually. You either need to raise the kids up or bend down. When shooting from the child’s point of view of the world, you get the world as viewed by children.
