Five Tips For Taking Better Photos Of Your Children
By Gold Coast Lifestyle Photographer, Golden Sundays Photography
With these simple five tips for taking photos of your children, you can capture images worth keeping forever - on any camera!
I am a Gold Coast family photographer - with over 10 years worth of practice photographing kids - including my own. These are just a few things I have learnt over the years which I believe will help you immensely!
Get down to their level
Getting down on your knees to a small child’s level will always produce a better shot then shooting from an adults height - way above them! Get down and see what they see. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with them on their level (something I think can always be helpful when talking to small children anyway)
2. Avoid harsh shadows on faces
Keep an eye on the lighting and shadows. If you’re under a tree or in bright light in the day, this can cause un-even shadows on faces which isn’t ideal. Try and find some nice even lighting or play around with which way to face them to avoid the shadow. The best time of day for taking images is in the late afternoon when you can avoid the harsh light of the sun.
3. Connect on a personal level
Tell a joke, sing a song, play a small game, or give them a little tickle to make them smile. I love to capture the smiles during those in-between moments when they aren’t focused on your camera at all. Try and avoid asking them to cheese or you will likely end up with a grin that looks very un-natural.
4. Use natural light
Make sure there is enough natural light available to avoid blurred hands on wiggly children (or adjust settings to a fast shutter speed if using a DSLR). If there is enough light entering your camera you can use a fast shutter speed to avoid any blurring. Play around with the best location for this, it might be in your house by a big window or it might be outside in the day in some shade. There’s often no point shooting in a gorgeous space if the light is terrible.
5. Don’t force it!
Enter your photo session with no expectations - If it’s not working and the kids aren’t playing along (and a little bribery hasn’t helped), I would always suggest leaving it for now, take the pressure off the kids, have a break and try again in 10 minutes, or at another date. If you force the photo it will almost always end up looking just that. The best shots are the natural ones when everyone looks happy - because they are! I can’t say I have EVER taken a photo I like that started with “Hey look here and smile!”, often followed by “Please stop fighting and just sit next to your brother for a photo!” It can be hard, but when you look back on your photos you want to remember the fun times and not the tears and fighting that may have happened because you wanted a good photo (which is something I’ve learnt along the years - I personally have a few really wonderful shots of my kids that I don’t want to display because all I think of when I look at it is the fighting that happened trying to make the photo work)
Last note: Although I recommend having your family photo taken professionally every year, (Your Gold Coast family photographer can help you with that ;-) ) Imperfect shots are life, and rules can go out the window in the name of art. Grumpy faces, blurry hands, light not quite right? None of that matters when it comes to capturing your memories. Believe me, in years to come, you will want to see those imperfect photos just as much as the professional ones.
Kids grow too quick and everyone deserves to have memories of their kids captured beautifully. Don’t forget to print and display those shots around the home too!
Learn more about my Gold Coast family lifestyle sessions and how I like to capture the magic, and the mess!
Read my tips on how to have a successful family photoshoot, here.
