Everyone knows that photographing young children is extremely difficult. But you didn’t live until you tried to photograph your kids.
And let’s face it, photographers use their kids as test dummies, so you might as well get some good shots while trying out that new Joe McNally Ezybox (which, by the way, is real) wonderful). Unfortunately, I think some of us photographers have kids for the sole purpose of testing out new gear. By the way, have you ever asked a seven-year-old to hold a floppy box for you while you tried to take a picture of their five-year-old sibling? You don’t know what you’re missing.
Anyway, not all hope is lost, and you can take great pictures of your baby (and other people’s children if you want). In this article, I will give you some simple tips that have helped me create better photos of my little angels.
Don’t waste your time trying to make them
One of the biggest mistakes we make when photographing children is thinking we have complete control over the situation. We use phrases like “smile” or “turn your head this way,” assuming we’ll be heard in any reasonable way. Have you ever told a five-year-old to smile? If you do, their face will often look like Gollum is staring at his precious ring. It is not beautiful. Same with shaping them. Tell a seven-year-old to move their arms, face the camera, move a foot, or whatever, and they’ll flex like a gymnast in search of gold, often ending up in the wrong direction. completely. So my advice is to give up altogether or at least go back to trying to pose them.
Instead, it’s much better to let them play and be themselves and be a part of their current crazy adventure. If you want them to laugh, say or do something funny. This is usually not difficult to do with young children, and you will get much more realistic and satisfying results. Don’t be afraid to degrade them – literally. Capture them from their point of view, not yours. And while you’re there, you can also hear your Cookie Monster voice and start stretching as you’ll be squatting on the ground with your camera for a while while they engage in an epic battle between Autobots and Decepticons.
Shameless bribery
We took our Christmas pictures a few years ago at Sagamore Hills National Historic Site, located in Oyster Bay, one of the most beautiful areas on Long Island. This is the former home of Teddy Roosevelt and is a popular haunt for photographers, especially in the fall. Our kids were five and three years old at the time, so we knew it would be a challenge to get any good pictures. But my wife and I decided to try it instead of just doing the healthy thing and hiring a photographer.
Anyhow, the sun was setting at the idyllic point across the hill, and although we took some good pictures, I still got some inspiration to capture them holding hands as the sun set behind. After about 10 minutes they ignored me, stared at me blankly, and hung around picking leaves, running out of time and patience. Finally I said, “If you let Dad take these pictures of you, when we get home, I’ll give you all the candies you want!” Of course my wife is not happy, but you have to do what you have to do to get the shot, am I right? And because of this, I was able to get three minutes of good cooperation from them. Today I know better and always carry a bag of things with me, because bribing them in real time works much better than promising something later.
Bring Back Extra Memory: You’ll Need It
Have you taken enough photos yet? The answer is always no. Because no matter how many pictures you take of children, most of them end up in the trash, especially if you take a group of them together. Someone in the group will always look away, pick their nose, get muddy, or blink. Even if it’s just my two kids together, one of them will try to make a weird face, look away, reach out, or strangle the other in about 99.8% of the photos. So I’d recommend buying a camera with a fast burst mode (preferably one built for extreme sports), set that appeal to a continuous high, and buy one. number of rows in Sandisk while you’re there because you’re about to wade through 200 versions of the same photo to find a good one to send to Grandma.
Don’t let them break your spirit
The cognitive abilities of children are amazing. They are certainly much more sensitive than adults, and at this point I’m almost certain that my kids can sniff out fear and dismiss rising anxiety levels. When you start to get stressed, anxious, or angry, they’ll start slapping you like a cat who just found a mouse in the backyard. And the last thing you want to do is show them that you’re losing control of the situation because there won’t be any good shots once they realize they’ve screwed you up. Above all, you have to stay calm and calm. This shouldn’t be too difficult to do when photographing other people’s children, but we as parents know that it is exponentially more difficult to handle our own children. So before you shoot you might want to meditate, or do yoga or something, because you’ll need the patience your wife shows with them every day to get any decent shots.
Take tons of pictures before they realize you and your camera is lame
When your child is young, everything is fun. My seven year old son absolutely loves vacuuming the kitchen and taking out the trash. The day I realized he could take out the trash on his own without my assistance, I cried a little. But this opportunity is very small and needs to be exploited. For example, the day before, I told my kids that we were walking into the yard and I needed their help with “something,” to which my son replied, “Ugh, this isn’t it. Another camera thing, right?! ” To watch? My window is closed.
One way to delay the inevitable is to use reverse psychology. For example, my five-year-old daughter often ignores me and my camera, so if she doesn’t respond when I ask for a photo, I just say things like, “Don’t worry, I’ll just take one some portraits. of your brother. You can hang out! “This always works, because even though they don’t want to be photographed, the thought of another child getting special attention always overwhelms their desire to be left alone. This method works better than bribery and has become my go-to when I want to test the bokeh effect on my new lens or just need to tweak the continuous autofocus settings in my camera.
Another technique is to carry the camera everywhere, and let’s face it, you’ve already done it. Do the kids want to ride bikes? Great! I’ll take the camera! Now, walk towards me from the other end of the street while I test the AF tracking on this mean boy! Do this 20 more times. This is fun! Having fun in the snow? So amazing! Started building that snowman while I tried every exposure simulation to compare them. Dinner? It’s okay, I’ll take a video of you while you chew. Lying on the couch watching TV? Perfect! Don’t mind me while I invade your personal space to take some more portraits of you staring at the television screen! Have to zoom in and see how sharp this new lens is!
So don’t be shy and make sure you always have your camera with you before they get completely embarrassed in front of you and run away from you in public places.
Final advice
I love my children more than anything in this world. But I also love Canon EOS R5. (I mean, have you ever shot with one of those? It’s life changing!)
Anyway, what did I say? Oh yeah, the kids and the pictures. This is how I see it. Taking lots of pictures of my kids is a win-win. Sure, there will come a time when I’ll have to bribe them with money instead of candy, and sure enough, I’m the dad who’s always stressed out with cameras at family events, vacations, zoos, dental clinics , etc., but in the end, my family and I will look back at those 300 or 400 terabyte photos (when we’ve sorted them out) and cherish the moments we took together when they were still young and cute .
