New to photography-Tips on photographing kids?

[ShannonKG]

Hi. I am very new to photography, and I am mainly interested in taking family and childrens photos. I welcome any and all critiques

These are a couple of photos that I took of my boys. I would like some insight on what I did right and wrong. I know with the baby I should have moved the grass from his face. Also suggestion on how to take good pictures of moving targets, ie toddlers lol. Thanks

Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 200
Flash: Not used

Second Photo
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 200
Flash: Not used
I also used Picasa to "warmify" the pictures.

[Tito87]

Get in touch with SusanH1970. That's the best advice I can give you.

[natek313]

Your exposures are pretty dead-on, so good job on that. Your lighting is great - no harsh shadows or squinting subjects.

I like your first photo. Although, I would have put him on the right side of the frame in keeping with the Rule of Thirds. Also, watch the edges of your frames. You slightly chopped off his foot.

I like where you are going with the second photo, but I just don't think it's quite there yet. The biggest issue I have with it (aside from the grass you mentioned) is that his torso and head just seem to come out of nowhere. It looks kind of awkward. I would have tried to include more of his body in that shot. Also, I think shooting from a slightly higher perspective with him looking at the camera (I know that's not always easy with infants) would have been better. You caught a great smile, though!

For general suggestions, keep your shutter speeds fast with children. They move around so much, as I'm sure you know, so you need to be able to freeze their movement. Let them do their own thing. Capture their personalities. You may find that you want to use a longer lens so that you can keep your distance so they don't feel like their being photographed and can go about being a kid.

[Henry Wilt]

I agree with both the above posters.
For ideas for shooting kids you have to check out shots by SusanH1970 or RuthieMae, their work is outstanding.
As for composition, with candid shots of fast moving kids it can be really difficult to try and follow the rule of thirds etc. As a beginner myself, I have found it easier/better if I try to give myself a bit more room to crop the picture in pp to fit the rule rather than miss the shot because I was too slow to get the composition perfect at the time. That's probably wrong but, as I say, I'm still learning and not as quick as I'd like or need to be.

[lee kivi]

In addition to what Nate, Tito and Henry said, don't hesitate getting down to subjects level. It may be a little tough getting back up, but often its worth it. This can give a whole different perspective to the photo.

[klam]

Originally Posted by Tito87

Get in touch with SusanH1970. That's the best advice I can give you.

When someone post "contact so and so". I feel it alienates others from sharing their knowledge because it makes it seem that their(my) knowledge is worth a lot less than so and so.

SusanH, not a stab at you.

[Life in Motion]

Originally Posted by klam

When someone post "contact so and so". I feel it alienates others from sharing their knowledge because it makes it seem that their(my) knowledge is worth a lot less than so and so.

SusanH, not a stab at you.

I think that you should go ahead and post what is your opinion. I feel telling new members about great mentours such as susanh and ruthie is not to alienate others from sharing their knowledge, but just to point people in the direction of mentours with great knowledge of shooting certain areas...in this case children. And on this site susanh and ruthie have provided a long history of detailed advice and countless examples from pictures of why they are so great at this certain area. This site is great for finding mentours on any specific area of photography and then getting to learn from their knowledge. That's why this site is so great.

you should not feel like this alienates you. keep posting and being involved with your own opinion. this makes you stay immursed in the learning process. After all every one person is entitled to their opinion, whether amateur or pro. then people get to choose what works for their own style and taste....and a lot of times it may be several different opinions people choose to apply to learn from; a mixture of pro and amateur advice.

the great thing about art is it can be seen from many different perspectives...

[bcsurvivor49]

HI everyone. I have discovered that I like to take pictures of my grand daughter, I want to learn more about this fascinating world of photography. Not sure where to start. I have been reading about exposure ISO and F/4.0, this has been very helpful. I really like micro photos and have taken a couple of pictures, but the clarity is not there and I'm just not sure what I'm doing. I'm just clicking and hoping for a great shot. I hope to learn how to be patient and knowledgeable about the great pictures that are too come. I'm using a Canon PowerShot A480 I will look up SusanH1970 and ruthie and hoping to learn from them also.

[ShannonKG]

Originally Posted by Tito87

Get in touch with SusanH1970. That's the best advice I can give you.

Thanks. I'll hunt her down

[ShannonKG]

Originally Posted by natek313

Your exposures are pretty dead-on, so good job on that. Your lighting is great - no harsh shadows or squinting subjects.

I like your first photo. Although, I would have put him on the right side of the frame in keeping with the Rule of Thirds. Also, watch the edges of your frames. You slightly chopped off his foot.

I like where you are going with the second photo, but I just don't think it's quite there yet. The biggest issue I have with it (aside from the grass you mentioned) is that his torso and head just seem to come out of nowhere. It looks kind of awkward. I would have tried to include more of his body in that shot. Also, I think shooting from a slightly higher perspective with him looking at the camera (I know that's not always easy with infants) would have been better. You caught a great smile, though!

For general suggestions, keep your shutter speeds fast with children. They move around so much, as I'm sure you know, so you need to be able to freeze their movement. Let them do their own thing. Capture their personalities. You may find that you want to use a longer lens so that you can keep your distance so they don't feel like their being photographed and can go about being a kid.

Thanks for all the info
As far as the lighting goes, I shot this early evening (7ish) in indirect sunlight (it was behind the trees). Is this a good idea for future photos? What is ideal natural lighting?
I think I took this in auto mode (can't really remember though lol). Is that a good mode for children, or should I try to use manual mode for them?
I have heard of the rule of thirds, even though it doesn't show here, I will keep that in mind! And I didn't even notice the foot, thanks for pointing that out. I need to be aware of these things.

For the baby, would you have tried to include his entire body or crop it on his thighs? If I cropped it closer would that look better?
I love his little gummy smile. Sorry, it's the mommy in me lol.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Sorry for all the questions, I just need someone's head to pick lol.