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| Tips on Photographing Children |
| This article is reproduced with permission from the Photography Knowledge Centre at PremierCompare.co.uk |
| Contact WavefrontPhotography.co.uk for Portrait, Lifestyle and Wedding Photography in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. |
| The current young generation are the most photographed children ever and parents seem to have cameras everywhere, from camera phones to a growing band of people who are choosing Digital SLR cameras. But, children are not easy to photograph: they move erratically and suddenly, they have no patience and they do not (or will not) follow instructions correctly. So, here are a some tips on how to get good photographs of children. |
| Candid Photos |
| When taking candid photos of children who are busy in some activity there is no problem with posing or attention spand, but, still there are a few tricks to getting a good photo. |
| Get down to their level. Most adults just stand normally and point the camera downwards to take a photo of a child. You might get nice photos this way, but, you will never get a great photo. Get down to their level: sit down on the floor, or lie down if need be. As a rule of thumb, the camera should be no higher than the child's head level - a little lower is OK, but, higher is not. |
| Speed is of the essence. There are two aspects to this. Firstly, children rarely continue doing the same thing for long. So, you need to have your camera set up in an automatic mode and keep it in your hand and keep it switched on and keep it zoomed to roughly the correct field of view. Then, you can literally point and click when a good photo opportunity arises. If you have to spend time switching the camera on and changing settings, then your scamp will have scampered away by the time you are ready and the photo is lost forever. Secondly, children often move surprisingly quickly, e.g. by flapping their hands, so, if you have the choice, use a short exposure time to avoid blurring. |
| Focus on the eyes. This is a general rule, not just for children: when taking a photograph of a person, focus on the eyes. If there are several people in the composition, focus on the eyes of the person closest to the camera or on the eyes of the person who is key to the picture. E.g. if one child is doing something that the others are watching, then focus on the eyes of the child who is 'doing' even if they are not the closest to the camera. |
| Use Continuous shooting. If your camera has this option, you can select the continuous shooting mode when children are running around. In this mode you just track your subject with the camera and hold the shutter release button fully down. The camera will continually adjust its focus to keep the subject sharp and will take photos as quickly as it can. So, you can track a running child with a good chance of getting a decent photo. |
| Posed Photographs |
| Babies |
| Newborns basically can't do anything and can't perform for you. This is a double edged sword: you can prepare the baby and its surroundings in any way you want (which is not always true for older children), but, when the time comes to take a photo you can't force happiness (which is possible for older children). However, there are still things you can do to improve your chances. The tip mentioned for Candid photography about focusing on their eyes is just as true for posed babies, and the tip about getting down to their level is also sometimes appropriate, e.g. if the baby is lying on its stomach. |
| Prepare the baby ahead of time. Some babies cry whenever you change their clothes, and, all babies do so sometimes. So, change the baby into the chosen outfit ahead of time to give them a chance to calm down. But, don't do it too far ahead of time to reduce the chance that they will be sick on it. Between ten minutes and half an hour ahead should be reasonable. At the same time, check their face and wipe any grotty, snotty bits away. Again, this should give enough time for them to calm down without giving enough time for them to get grotty again. |
| Prepare the setting. There are two basic ways of photographing a baby: either have someone holding them or prop them in positon. If someone is holding them, then choose the adult's clothes with a view to showing off the baby. If they are not being held, then think about what the background looks like: baby equipment usually includes a lot of nice blankets and they are ideal for draping over any cushions or pillows you might be using to prop the baby in place. Make sure that any props you use are nice: baby's favourite bunny might not enhance your photograph if it's been sicked on twenty times. |
| Big smiles. There is no guarantee that you can get a baby to look at the camera or have a pleasant look on their face. However, they do tend to respond to you, the photographer. So, when you are taking the picture it helps to pay more attention to the baby than to your camera. To get the baby to look in your direction, baby talk and silly noises help (I find a Donald Duck- esque quacking noise is almost irresistable to babies and young children). When they look at you, smile at them. But, not a normal smile; break into the biggest, most exagerated smile you can - mouth wide and eyes wide. Again, this is almost irresistable to babies. They will tend to respond to you with a smile of their own, or at very least an interested look. When you do have to disappear behind the camera, e.g. to line up the shot, don't spend long behind there. It's better to take three or four quick looks at the camera controls than to stay behind there for a long time. You can even take the opportunity to play peek-a-boo, hiding your face behind the camera as you adjust the zoom, then popping out with a, "Boo!", and so on. |
| Hands & Feet are good. Don't feel the need to photograph the whole baby in every shot. Get up close and take part of the child. Hands and feet work well. One standard photograph that always works well is of an adult hand holding the baby's hand. |
| Children |
| Older children have a different set of challenges. Toddlers will often be suspicious of you or your camera and, before their speech is sufficiently developed, can not be reasoned with or bribed and will not follow instructions. Older children have their own ideas about what looks good in a picture that does not necessarily agree with your view. In both cases there are techniques for getting them to co-operate. The tips mentioned for Candid photography about focusing on their eyes and getting down to their level are just as true for posed pictures as candid ones. |
| Prepare the child. Choose clothes that will look good in the photo. This means choose clothes without bold patterns or logos. Small patterns are fine, as the effect is of a constant texture and so the pattern is not distracting from the people. It is probably a very unpopular thing for me to say, but, football shirts never look good unless the whole picture is football themed (i.e. people playing football or a person posed with a football under their arm, holding a trophy, or similar). Also, comb the child's hair and check for mucky faces, hands and knees (if showing). |
| Prepare the setting. This might just be choosing a suitable spot in the garden or a favorite chair in the living room, but, do think about what else will be in view. Next door's shed wouldn't be a great addition to the photo, and seeing yourself reflected in a mirror is the last thing you want. A drawn curtain can work as a background for a close up portrait, but, only if it is a single colour that is either very pale or very dark. Basically, if it is obviously a curtain, then don't do it; if it could be a photographer's backdrop then give it a go. You might have to convert to black & white to make it less obvious; but, that can give great results. |
| Make them laugh. If you only remember one thing from this article, this is the one! When photographing children, never ask them to smile and look at the camera. That can result in quite awful photos, ranging from the cheesiest of cheesy smiles to deliberately stupid poses. Instead, you have to make them laugh. Even from before you start taking photographs start engaging with them. When taking the shots, get them to say something silly. Tell them you don't like 'cheese' so they have to say 'smelly socks' instead. It's simple, but effective. Don't take the photo while they're saying this; take it afterwards when they laugh. |
| Or, don't! The alternative is to say nothing and let their faces become neutral or serious and not looking at the camera. This can give good pictures, especially when converted to black and white. For toddlers of eighteen months or so (before their language skills are sufficiently developed), trying to make them laugh generally doesn't work, so you'll need a different strategy. Even silly noises don't always work. However, an interesting toy for them to play with can give good results. I find brightly coloured building blocks are an excellent option. They look good in the pictures and just about every toddler in the world will sit and play with them while you get on with the photographs, even if they were unhappy before you produced the blocks. |
| An assistant can help. As you will have to divide your attention between the child, the camera and possibly other things, an assistant can help to entertain the child. This is especially true if the child you are photographing is not your own, when one of their parents can be invaluable. But, be careful of the child looking at them instead of at you or the camera. It can be OK if the assistant is well off to one side (giving a profile shot), but, if they are beside or behind the photographer it just looks wrong. So, at the moment when the photograph is taken, you still have to engage with the child to get them to look at the camera. |
| Keep changing poses. Think about poses before you start, then during the photo session keep changing poses. However, keep the poses simple: "sit here" and "stand there" are fine, but, "stand facing that way with your head turned here" is too complex for little ones. If sitting on the floor, get the child to point their toes like a dancer or gymnast as it is more elegent, especially for girls. Don't let them stay in one pose for too long, or the smiles start to fade. Try unusual points of view. When doing this you can break the rule of thumb stated above about not having the camera above the child's head height. Try standing on a chair and looking down at the child. |
| Keep it short. Children have limited patience and short attention spans. You have perhaps a maximum of forty minutes of working time before things fall apart. You should also try to do it in one continuous session. If you need a five minute break to set something up, then they will almost certainly have lost interest by the time you're ready again. |
| Don't discard the dodgy photos. Well, OK, some are unsalvagable. But, for the others, look at them with your arty hat on. Think black and white; think arty; think atmospheric; think tight crops. Sometimes your best photos are actually your worst photos with an arty treatment. |
| In Conclusion |
| To summarise, I would say: keep it short; keep it snappy; and keep it entertaining. |
| This article is reproduced with permission from the Photography Knowledge Centre at PremierCompare.co.uk |
| Contact WavefrontPhotography.co.uk for Portrait, Lifestyle and Wedding Photography in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. |
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