How to Photograph Children

We all love children--and especially love our own children. Fifty years ago, photography was saved for the occasional family portrait or outing. Nowadays, we begin photographing our children when they are coming out of the womb and seem determined to document their every event. From my experience, this causes two phenomenons that may exist within the same child at various points in their development. When they become sensitized to being photographed they may turn into a poser, promptly striking a pose and delivering a smile on cue. They could also turn into a hider and cover their face and get mad when you start to take their pictures. Neither of these is desirable since what you really want are candid photos of your children living their lives. So stop posing your kids and follow these simple techniques for getting better photographs of your children.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Patience
• A Camera
• More Patience

1. Baby Ella Photographing infants is really easy. First feed them and burp them and then sit them in good natural lighting and have someone make faces at them or play with a stuffed animal. Try to avoid using flash; it tends to irritate children. If you want to make them cry, just flash them a few times with your strobe. Have family members hold the child and pose for portraits. Get all the posing out of your system because soon it will just make them say: “Do I have to?”
2. Distract With Action As they get older try to keep one rule in mind and that is: take pictures of them doing something. It doesn’t matter what as long it is something THEY want to do. I love this picture of my daughter that I took while we were waiting to go out to dinner with her grandmother. She was bored and I told her to go to the end of the court and see how fast she could run. She was really into running fast then and it made a great candid. I had preset the exposure so I could just bring the camera up fast and get a natural expression.
3. Natural Hams Some kids are natural hams and will do anything for the camera. They have less inhibition than adults and actually want you to take pictures of them when they are trying to look stupid. Keep in mind that this is just a stage of growth. When puberty hits all bets are off. Just because a kid is a ham when they are six does not mean they will be that way at 12. However, during their “outgoing” period take as many pictures as you can since it will just be for a limited time.
4. Photograph Events Take pictures of events in the lives of your children. They will have more meaning for your children later in life then they may have for you. There are the obvious events like graduations, birthdays and family vacations. This is a time when you can pose your children for the camera. Make sure you also take some of the little events like little league and other sports competitions regardless of the talent of the child. These pictures all make up a photo tapestry of your child’s life.
5. Pictures From Children Let your children start talking their own pictures early in their life. They may not have the same talent or interest that you do in photography, but it helps to understand the process. This can make them a better photographic subject. This picture was taken by my daughter in Hawaii when she was about six.

Tips & Warnings

• Have someone with you to play with the child or distract the child so you can take natural candids.
• Use natural light whenever possible; flash is distracting to most children.
• Don't avoid taking posed shots altogether, but use it sparingly, unless your child wants to become a model.