Child Photography

How to Take Great Photos of Kids

Shooting good-quality photographs of children can be a challenge. They don't stand still, they don't follow instructions well and they bore easily. This doesn't stop millions of parents from taking random snapshots of their children. The unfortunate result is many poorly lit, badly framed, blurry photographs of kids. It doesn't have to be this way. With a little patience and planning, anyone can shoot good-quality photographs of children.

Lets start by looking at some tips on how to set your camera up when photographing children.

• Aperture Priority Mode - I’d start by switching your camera into Aperture Priority mode. This will let you have some creative control over depth of field which can be an important factor in portraits. If your camera doesn’t have aperture priority mode – it might have a ‘portrait’ mode which can be worth shooting in to get those nice fuzzy backgrounds.
• Aperture – I’d set my aperture at f3.5 to start with (you can adjust it up and down as you start shooting). This will throw the background out of focus (unless kids are right up against a wall) but will give you enough depth of field that their whole face will be in focus.
• ISO – Depending where you are shooting (inside or out) and what the light is like – set your ISO to 200 (lower is better if you have lots of light). If it is too dark and this makes your shutter speeds too long you can pump it up – but try to keep it under 800 or you’ll start getting lots of pixelation).
• Shutter Speed – Keep an eye on the shutter speed that your camera is choosing. Try to keep it 1/200th of a second or faster if you can (if kids are running around – to up to 1/500th or more). Like I say – if it’s too dark you can increase your ISO or even push your Aperture up a little. If you’re not confident with shutter speeds and your photos are coming out blurry because your children are moving too fast – you might try setting your camera to ’sports mode’.
• Focus Mode – Set your Auto focus to single point focussing. You could leave it on the multipoint focusing mode but I find with kids that move around a lot that you want to know exactly where your camera is focusing quite precisely.
• RAW – If you have time (and the ability) to do some post production work on your images later try shooting in RAW. This will give you more license to edit your shots later. If you’re under the pump for time and/or don’t have the ability to edit your work – JPEG will do.
• Flash/Lighting – I’m not sure if you have a flash unit or not that you can use but my preference is to limit the use of your camera’s built in flash. If you do have an external flash and you’re shooting inside – bounce it off a roof/wall (if they are white) or use a diffuser to give indirect light. Otherwise try to find situations that are well lit with natural light – this is my preferred situation – if you can do it in natural light you’re putting yourself in the position to not have to worry too much about your flash. If you’re shooting into the sun though – consider using your flash to give a little fill flash light.
• Lens – I like to take a couple of approaches when it comes to lenses. The main approach I take is to use a lens with some real zoom capability. I love to get my 70-300mm lens out which enables me to shoot from a distance and yet still fill the frame with the child I’m photographing (this lens also has the advantage of being fast (f2.8) and having image stabilization) – even my 18-135mm lens gives good range at the 105mm end. The other approach that can be fun is to shoot at the other end of the spectrum and shoot with a wide angle perspective. Getting in nice and close with a wide lens can give all kinds of fun distortion (which when used creatively can lead to some wonderful shots). If shooting indoors or in poor lighting you might also want to go with the fastest lens in your bag.

While infants spend their days sleeping, sitting, or crawling, the young kid has moved on and is often in perpetual motion. Most important, he or she lives in a world filled with the joy of discovery and make-believe. These are the spirits you want your camera to capture.

• Shoot quickly. Children move fast, so your camera must also be fast.

• Put the children in the spotlight. Light is an essential element of photography. There must be light shining on the faces of the children, or they will not be clear in the photo. When taking photographs of children, stand with the brightest light source behind you. That way children will look into the light when you snap the picture. A bright light source can be the sun, a bright artificial light or a flash.

• Get rid of shadows with a fill flash. Light coming from behind or from the sides of children will cast shadows on them. Get rid of these by setting your camera to flash even when there is enough ambient light. You can do this by setting your camera to manual and pressing the flash button until a lightning bolt symbol appears. A fill flash gets rid of shadows and brightens the subjects of the photograph.

• One of the best ways to photograph young kids is to catch them in action when they're doing something that engrosses them — like playing with their toys ...or pretending at the piano...or timidly wading in the pool for the first time ...or holding a pet.

• Catch children being children. The best photographs of kids are of them playing. Watch them and lay in wait with your camera. When you see something cute about to happen, prepare your shot by pressing the button halfway. This will focus the camera and reduce the delay in snapping the photograph. Click the button at the perfect moment.

• Let the children ham it up. Kids love cameras because they like looking at themselves. When they see a camera, they often pose and demand that you take pictures. Indulge them but take advantage of this enthusiastic cooperation. Ask them to do something they otherwise might be reluctant to do, such as hug a sibling or strike a pose. The children may change their minds in an instant, so work quickly.

• Keep taking pictures. With digital photography, you can take as many as you want, then delete the ones you don't like. Many of the best photographs are captured unexpectedly. It is better to take a picture.