Photographing children

[meetshany]

Hi,

A friend of mine has invited me to take portraits of his two little daughters.

We will be going to a local japanese garden to take the pictures.

Can you please help me with the do's and don'ts of child portraiture. What equipment can be best used.. poses for the children.... etc

Any other help/ comments/ siggestions are more than welcome.

[kimsnikon]

Yesterday I photographed two small girls. Their mom wanted pictures in white dresses. It was a bit too sunny so most of the pictures are washed out.
I'm quite disappointed.
Just be mindful of the light and shadows.
HTH,
Kim

[SusanH1970]

Get down to their level - don't take pics from above them. Do stuff to make them laugh so you get natural smiles instead of stiff, fake ones. Here is a thread discussing good poses for kids. Try to get them being silly, too - it captures their personalities so well! For example, this is one of my favorite pics:



I see you've got a 50mm prime - that's what I use for my portraits. If you have a reflector, it's your best friend for outdoor shots - gives nice catchlights and gets rid of shadows.

Good luck!

[JacquiMarie]

We've done a bit of child photography recently and we've found that if you've got two or more getting them playing some sort of game to get their pictures taken is great fun and produces some lovely images. For example if you've got a wall or plant that you want them to stand in front of or play peek-a-boo round ask who's going to do it first - depending on their ages a fun game can be enjoyed by all. Also just remember to take plenty of breaks from getting them to 'smile' for the camera and let them enjoy themselves which can in itself produce very natural pictures. Hope it works out for you. Jacqui

[captainkimo]

Most children will refuse to cooperate and will not follow your instructions (e.g. "Pose like this"). Thus, when shooting a photo of them, you should expect that they will act according to their age. Don't be hard on them. Study what most kids of their age do. You have to know and feel their limitations and then play with their strengths. The challenge, I think, with child photography is how to capture the kids' most priceless expression.

[Saralonde]

Here are a few posts on the DPS blog that might help you:

Photographing Young Personalities With Fun Props

Successful Portraits of Children [Matrix Style]

Capturing Energy and Emotion in Children

[meetshany]

This is some great advice. Thank you all for the inputs. If you have any other inputs please share it with me. I need it

[michellesfoodpage]

Make jokes with them my dd loves knock knock jokes.. see if they have a favorite performer i.e. the wiggles.raffi or fred penner(the cat came back)

fave book?? puppet? or a lovie? maybe have mum bring it with them? talk about them are you in pre-school? art class,music, dance etc...

have fun

[michellesfoodpage]

Originally Posted by Saralonde

Here are a few posts on the DPS blog that might help you:

Photographing Young Personalities With Fun Props

Successful Portraits of Children [Matrix Style]

Capturing Energy and Emotion in Children

Thank you very much for the links very helpful

[naeno]

I have one word...bubbles! Get a $10 bubble machine and let the kids run around in the bubbles. Let the kids blow the bubbles. They are cheap and loads of fun.

As has been said before, the biggest thing is to just have fun!! Also, make sure to ask mom what special talents/interests the children have. Try to incorporate those into the session.