Fine tuning your basic photography skills will help you with taking better pictures of children, but there are a few tips and tricks specific to photographing kids that will do wonders in getting some photos truly worth displaying in a beautiful school picture frame.
The best photographs of children tend to be candid shots, but if you are taking portraits of children, practice with your camera first because kids have a hard time not fidgeting.
When taking candid shots of children outdoors, use a zoom (preferably optical zoom) or a telephoto lens. This will help you take pictures further away so you can become less obvious when taking pictures. The more obvious you and the camera are, the more apt the children will ham it up or freeze and the less likely you will capture natural expressions. And you will need to be patient. Let them get used to you being there with your camera. Eventually they will relax.
Focus on the subject in the picture. The most interesting pictures focus on the subject rather than trying to get everything nearby into the shot.
When photographing children outdoors, you’ll usually get the best pictures in Sports mode or by selecting a high shutter speed, such as 1/500 and a large aperture. The larger aperture will blur the background when photographing from about 10 feet away from the child. You can also do this with portrait mode, but the great part of using manual settings is you can blur the background and freeze the action.
If your camera has burst mode, this is also a good one to use with active kids. Burst mode will take several pictures in rapid succession, so you can later choose your favorite.
If you’re photographing indoors and have good natural light, try using your camera without the flash since flash can be very distracting to kids.
Be especially carefully when using a flash when you’re photographing babies. Before you use a flash, always check your camera’s manual to ensure you’re using it from a safe distance. In many cases it will be three feet.
One of the best ways to pose a baby is in the parents arms. Always think “safety first” when posing children. When photographing a child and parent, show relationship by having them look at each other or at the same thing. If you want a baby to look in a specific direction, simply use a baby rattle, bean bag or other quiet noise maker.
When taking pictures of toddlers, you will need to take pictures fast. Always be prepared to take lots of pictures so you’ll be sure to catch a few really good ones.
One of the very best ways to photograph a child of any age is to wait for when the child is engrossed in something that is really interesting to him or her and then shoot away.
Try to get pictures of those “firsts” like first step, first bike ride, and all those other important moments. And baby firsts always look great displayed in adorable baby picture frames.
Before you take pictures of any child, always ask the parent for permission beforehand as a courtesy (the only time it wouldn’t be necessary is if the child is part of a large group like marching in a parade). Although it is legal to take pictures of people (including children) without permission in public places, it is considerate to ask. Most parents would prefer being asked.
Preschool age children when hanging out together can be quite charming. Look for those buddy photo ops like when two little ones are holding hands or helping each other with a task.
As you take more photos you will find that it isn’t difficult to get great pictures of children but it does require some time and forethought. And if you’re a parent, take as many pictures as you can, because before you know it, they’ll be graduating highschool and you’ll be proudly displaying their picture in a graduation picture frame.