The Secret to Taking Great Photographs of Young Children

• By: jack
• On: 31/01/2008 43:31:12
• In: Painting and photography tips
• Comments: 0

It's all very well to take a hundred digital photos of a young child in informal home surroundings and then sort through them later in the hopes that you will get a few good one.  It's very likely that you will indeed get a couple of good ones, but generally even the best will be a compromise...that is to say, the best out of a lot of very bad ones. 

We've all got scores (if not hundreds) of photos of our children taken during their early year, and once in a great while we accidentally take a great one and have it enlarged and framed.  Candid photos are fun, but if you're planning a special photo to send to grandparents or other family for a special occasion, why not set aside an hour to take some great "informal" photographs.

Here are a few hints for the amateur parent/photographer that can help increase the chances of snapping some memorable photographs:

1.  Set a time and place in advance so everybody will be focused and in a mood to participate. Plan the sitting for a time of day when the child or children are rested, freshly dressed, and already fed.

2.  It's a good idea to only have two people in the room - the photographer and one person to supervise the child or children.  If both these people are parents, that's fine, but only the "supervisor" should interact with the children. 

3.  The photographer should remain as quiet as possible, with only necessary instructions or requests voiced to the supervisor in a low tone. This is a really hard rule to stick to if both parents are present but a little self control leads to great results.

4.  Decide and prepare the background and props and adjust the lighting and camera settings before the child or children are brought into the room.  It's unreasonable to expect them to sit quietly through endless fiddling of camera and setting.  The best shots are usually the first fresh curious looks at the camera and photographer when shooting starts.

5.  Keep the background and props simple.  Too many toys or a lot of colorfully printed blankets distract from the subject.  Throw one large blanket over a couch or place the children on a table with a favorite toy or stuffed animal.

6.  The 'supervisor' should stand behind the left or right shoulder of the photographer and give encouragement to the subject or subjects to look in his or her direction.  Shouting commands to "Smile!" rarely gets the desired response.  A hand puppet or a familiar song usually works better.

7.  The photographer should be sitting on the floor or a low stool in order to be at child level.  It's less intimidating and gets much better angles.  The "supervisor" should be higher than the camera but not so high that the subjects have to tip their heads up or twist their bodies to see or hear.

8.  Take lots of photos and if your digital camera has a 'sports' setting or takes series of shots, use those setting and regular settings also for the same poses.  You'll still get a lot of oops shots, but a lot better chance of some great ones.

When you download them later onto your PC view them first as all-thumbnail and the best shots will literally jump off the screen.  You'll probably still have a hard time choosing, but if you plan to have the photo made into an oil painting or water color portrait choose one that has the subjects relatively centered and close up and as sharp as possible.   You will be well on your way to creating a new family heirloom.

Jack