Toddler Photography Advice

[SwtHrt88]

Hi everyone,

I will be photographing my 15-month old nephew next weekend and was hoping for a few pointers. We'll be shooting outside in short spurts (his patience is minimal, at best)...early morning, late afternoon/evening, and out of direct sunlight when at all possible. He's quite the active kiddo with near-fluorescent blonde hair, so I've included a few specific questions below. Otherwise, I'm just looking for some general suggestions!

1) Any advice for AF settings to use on a Canon 7D? I just got this camera, so I'm still learning all of these new and fancy settings (i.e. Zone and Point Expansion)...would any of these be appropriate for a fast-moving 15-month old or should I stick with the recommended single/spot AF point for crisp/clear portraiture and worry about composition during post-processing?

2) I'm not kidding you when I say this kid's hair is blonde. Without knowing the exact conditions, I'm a bit worried that his hair is going to get totally blown out in pictures. I guess the fact that I'm thinking about it puts me a step ahead but if anyone has any thoughts/suggestions (or would like to tell me I'm being irrational), please let me know!

Thanks!

[AdrenoJunkie]

I don't know about your AF settings but if it was me, I'd shoot in shutter priority at a fast enough SS to freeze him. Then in test shots I'd try evaluative metering and see what it looked like. If it was all over the place I would spot meter off his face and see what that looks like. If his hairs a lil hot but not blown I'd fix it in post. If it's blown I'd use EC and underexpose a lil at a time til I could live with it. Or vice versa and spot meter off his hair and adjust EC til I found a good balance. But take that with a grain of salt cuz I'm still trying to figure all this out myself. Good luck.