5 Ways to Master Photographing Your Kids

Photographing our kids can be so tricky! They have short attention spans, they move so fast, and they’re teeny short emotional little creatures who want to do their own thing. But here’s what worked for us when it comes to photographing kids like a pro:

 

Get on Their Level

Whether you’re in the photo with them or simply taking the picture, make your camera lens parallel to their eyes. This helps you become a part of their world and gets all of their features. You may have to sit or lay on the ground but it’s way better than pointing the camera down at them.

 

Shoot in Continuous Mode

Whether you’re using a professional digital camera or your phone, change the settings so that when you hold down the shutter button it keeps taking pictures. This helps capture those movements so that you don’t have blurry pictures and it gives you more opportunity to get a great photo.

 

Take Your Camera Everywhere

This is one of the best things we’ve ever done in our family when it comes to photography. I take my DSLR everywhere we go. It sounds so simple and yet it’s not. When we would only get the camera out occasionally, it felt clunky to carry, awkward in public with people around and if our babe had a meltdown I’d be so disappointed that we didn’t get the picture. Once I started taking the camera everywhere, it’s become like another appendage. It’s more natural to us. It doesn’t feel like a burden to carry no matter where we are, we don’t feel awkward posing and taking pictures around other people, and if we don’t get the shot I’m not bummed because I know another opportunity will come soon since the camera is always with us.

 

Encourage Activity

Because kids love to move like crazy, let’s just embrace it. I’ve taken photos of kids and families where the children are truly and literally bouncing off the walls and it’s okay. That’s who they are at this stage of life so it’s best to embrace and encourage it. They’ll be happier and they’ll feel more comfortable in their element. This may be encouraging the child to run toward your camera, to climb the tree next to them, to play with a prop – anything safe for their age that keeps them having fun.

 

Limit the Number of PeopleĀ 

When you’re trying to get a great photo of a child and there’s five other family members standing around or behind you and they’re all calling the child’s name to get them to look. It’s overwhelming. The child isn’t going to know where to look, they’re going to feel overstimulated, and they won’t have fun. If it’s just you with your camera observing them and letting them play as is and maybe calling their name a few times to look at you, it comes much more natural.

 

I hope these help! Let me know how this goes for you! You can email me at kyliethompsonphotography@gmail.com or DM me on my instagram @kyliethompsonphotography