My #1 tip For Photographing Kids
When it comes to capturing the moment it’s all about timing.
The trap we fall into is to trying to wait until the child is in the position we want & smiling before taking the photo. We call their name, shake a rattle vying for their attention and then wait til we’ve got it.
This is a mistake.
Unlike adults who can “hold a pose” (though personally I think they always look staged anyway) kids can’t “hold it”. So, you need to press snap just before the moment happens. In other words, you need to pre-empt the moment.
How in the world do you pre-empt a moment? Well, in fact that’s what you spend most of your time doing as a parent. You know your child/ren and their movements intimately. Here’s an example:
This is me waiting until she is looking at me and smiling. Note, she’s doing neither because the minute she was looking at me she started talking and thus I missed it.
This is me taking the photo while she was still lifting her head to look at me. Bang! On the money!
When you take a photo just before you get that beautiful moment of the eyes as they are lifting up. Have you been in a wedding party? Remember how the photographer asked you to look down and then up? He/she was most likley taking the photo just before you had fully lifted your face. It works every time…
What’s your top tip for photographing kids?
Come back tomorrow for my top 5 tips for photographing toddlers.
Mummble
Stitch Baby + Kids
I volunteer as a photographer for my kid’s kinder..and I tell you, plenty of opportunities there.. LOL. I just snap away.. delete whatever I don’t need.
My top tip, is always to get down their their eye level. No matter how low they get. Which is kinda hard…for me ol’ knees! :D
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I am not surpirsed you do that, your photos are fabulous! Eye level is key, absolutely!
i try to remember something that i know my kid thinks is funny. i tell it to her while she’s looking away & then whether she looks toward me or not, she’s get a legitimate smile on her face. lately, i’ve been reminding her of jack black because she thinks everything about him is funny.
That’s so true! I love that she thinks Jack Black is funny – that’s awesome. I think he’s brilliant!
Great post. Love that last photo, so adorable. My top tip is keep it fun. If we’re talking, singing, laughing then I can keep snapping away. Once it’s no longer fun there are tears!
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Very true indeed!
Love it and so true! Thanks so much for the tip
Thanks Michelle ;)
So true. And the unplanned moments that come from doing this are often – no, always – the best photos!
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Thanks so much for this! I find it really hard because my kids never stop moving, and so many of my photos end up a blurry streak, lol! But I could see this working
Oh I’m so glad it’s helpful! Let me know how you go with it :)
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