Photographing Children - A Quick Tip
One of the most helpful tips that I was given in my early days by a friend (and that I pass on regularly) when it comes to photographing children is to give them something to do while you’re photographing them.
While older children might have the patience to sit still for a few minutes while you set up your gear, get your camera settings all right, adjust your flash and then get them sitting just right - in most cases children just don’t have the attention span.
Not only that - sitting or standing in a posed situation can lead to shots of children looking unnatural, uncomfortable and obviously ‘posed’.
A more natural way to photograph children is to set up your camera and lighting in an area where they naturally play and to photograph them while they do so.
Set them up with some paint and paper, put our their building blocks, take them to a playground, give them some balloons, capture them playing with a bubble machine, give them some dress-up clothes to get into, introduce a pet into the situation or get them involved in some other activity that they enjoy - then start shooting.
This will lead to shots with a more natural and candid feel to them. You can still call to them to look at the camera if you’re wanting a shot where they engage your viewer by staring down the lens - but you’ll find that in most cases their smiles will come across as a lot more genuine as they’ll be actually having fun.
As we’ve suggested in other ‘photographing children’ posts previously - remember to get down to their level when shooting, fill the frame, shoot in burst/continuous shooting mode and to be playful in your own style and the angles that you shoot from.
Top 5 Books for Photographing Children
- Photographing Children and Babies: How to Take Great Pictures
- Photographing Children Photo Workshop
- Professional Secrets for Photographing Children
- The Art of Photographing Children
- Creative Techniques for Photographing Children
A couple of other tips on photographing children:
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My other favorite tip, one I have to repeatedly tell me kids’ granddad, is to get down to the kids’ eye level instead of shooting the tops of their heads. Does he ever take notice, does he heck as like.
db
One thing I like to remind people about is that when it comes to kids, one size does not fit all. 4 year olds are nothing like 8 year olds. And if you treat a 11 year like a 3 year old, you might as well just pack everything up and go home.
Make sure you keep in mind that each child will be different. There are no tricks that always work. Get to know the child. Understand how they think and what they want. Children have brains and are WAY smarter than grown-ups give then credit for being.
The pictures you are trying to take of the child, the ones that people just love, capture the spirit of the child. Unless you know yourself what the spirit is…you are just taking snapshots.
I have found another great thing to do with babies is to use what is around you. For example: One day I wanted to take some creative shots of my baby, so I grabbed a boa, stripped her naked, put her in the pose I wanted, using the boa to cover parts. I put the extra boa piled up behind her to create an interesting background. Then I put a small flower tucked behind her ear.
Another time, I grabbed a big mixing bowl, set her inside it with a large wooden spoon next to her and a few ingredients in front of the bowl (egg, bakers chocolate.. etc.). These were all items I had around the house that made great, creative and fun shots.
I have also found using natural lighting, as much as possible, really makes a picture look great.
Anne :)
Hmm. Just in case anyone is wondering, I am talking about the feathered boa, not the snake!
Anne :)
oh good…was getting scared for a second about the poor baby ;)
I’ve found that the worst thing you can do when taking pictures of kids (especially younger ones) is to say “smile”. Smiling is not something younger kids know how to consciously do and it almost always looks forced.
I try to make them smile or even laugh by making stupid faces or whatever works for the kid. Sounds obvious, but it took me awhile to get out of the “say cheese” habit.