Taking photos of children requires lots of hard work. However, the experience is fun, especially if you’re taking photographs of your own kids. It’s a great bonding moment with your little ones, and a fun way to document their lives. As you know, kids grow up pretty quickly, so you should capture their growing up years because these things happen only once. To help make your photo session with kids a success, here are some child photography tips to keep in mind.
Take Impromptu Shots
Kids will be kids. Sometimes, no matter how you tell them to behave, they just can’t help but be playful. But instead of pressuring them to pose on your own terms, why don’t you capture them as they are?
When taking photos of kids, most photographers would ask the child to pose in a certain way. But kids would actually feel more comfortable by being themselves. They still do not have that self-consciousness that we adults have. So don’t bother forcing the kids to pose. Take impromptu shots instead. In fact, impromptu shots are the best. They don’t show fake emotions and it captures exactly what the child feels right at that moment.
Capture Their Innocence
Childhood is often associated with innocence, so try to capture this when taking photographs of your kids. Whether it’s your child’s innocent expression or during those childish fun moments, capturing their innocence is one way to make your photos stand out.
To achieve this, ask them some questions that will make them think hard. Then capture that moment while they are in a thinking mode. You can also let them play and capture them while in a playful mode. Throw some jokes that will make them laugh hard. When taking a photo of one child, choose a shallow depth of field to keep the focus on the child and use a shutter speed that would complement the shot.
Ask Their Friends To Join
One way to make the shoot more fun and memorable is to ask their friends to join. With their friends beside them, they can play and have so much fun. They will hardly notice that you are around and taking photos of them.
If you are dealing with teens, work fast and do not force them to smile or make unnatural poses. Gather the group together and use flash to freeze the motion. Ask everyone to move in and smile but do not take several shots since teenagers tend to lose their patience very easily.
Play Games
One way to make your little kids cooperate in the shoot is to ask them to play their favorite games. Instead of feeling pressured, they will feel excited and will gladly participate in the photo session.
There are many games that you can ask the kids to play. You can ask them to race or give them balls to play with. This will take their minds off the camera and will focus on having fun, which is a great moment to capture. You can also join in the fun by asking trivia questions and take photos of them while they are answering and having a good laugh.
Tickle Them
If your child is not in the mood to smile in front of the camera, let the tickle monster do the works. You can ask another adult or the parent to tickle the child so you can capture more natural smiles. If there’s no one around to help you, ask the kids to tickle each other instead. That will surely make the pictures look more playful and fun!
Another way to bring out the natural smiles from your subjects is to become a bit of a kid yourself. If you want your photography session to be a success, you should let loose, joke around, and be goofy with the kids. You can also sing or dance for them. If you want the little kids to look at you, ask them some questions, and when they answer back, click away!
Give Them Something to Do
It’s also a good idea to use props for your photography sessions with the kids. Give them something to hold, such as their favorite toys. If you include props that they love, they will not feel that you are taking photos of them. They will even forget that you are there! So if the child starts to get cranky and doesn’t want to participate in the shoot, give him or her something that she loves.
Before you start with the photo session, prepare something fun for the little ones to do. You can ask them to paint or read books. That will keep them focused on the activity and will not notice that they are being photographed.
Make them Perform for You
Capturing your child’s talents on camera is a great idea. If your kids love to sing or dance, then have them do that during your photo sessions. Make sure to cheer them up. Most talented kids would feel excited and motivated to show off their talents and skills if they are being cheered on.
You can also capture your child in school while performing in plays. If your child is performing along with the other kids, then draw your child out from the crowd and focus your camera on her or him. If possible, use a telephoto lens that can be zoomed in.
Shoot Them In a Natural Environment
Most child photography sessions happen inside a studio. But this can sometimes make little kids feel intimidated and won’t cooperate. So instead of having a photoshoot in a studio, look for outdoor locations that are quiet and less crowded. Schedule the shoot during the golden hours where the lighting is excellent.
Natural light is always better than artificial lights in a studio. The use of natural light is also a great way to capture the raw emotions of a child. But if you want the photo to have a moody black and white theme, then this should be taken at a studio indoors