We are MOMS, which means we wear A LOT of hats. Planners, counselors, doctors, cooks, drivers, classroom volunteers, professionals – the list goes on and on. Oh, and who can forget, family historian – so our kids can look back and remember all this good stuff.
Enter THE CAMERA.
The role of family historian makes us ALL photographers on the same mission – to capture the precious, fleeting moments in the lives of our children. Luckily, we all have a camera (or a smartphone) these days and taking a picture is as simple as pushing a button (…just imagine if we had to stop and SKETCH).
So, if you are out there, using your camera, capturing your kids doing their thing – you’ve already got this historian business down and you can relax! If you are Type A (like me) – and you are always looking for ways to make what you are doing BETTER (plus, playing with photography is fun!) – then dive into the tips below.
How to take better pictures of your kids – Kill the Flash
Yes, often the flash is a very helpful tool – after all, if there isn’t enough light in your shot, you won’t have a shot at all! If junior is being dunked in the baptismal font and you are worried about missing it – for heaven’s sake (get it) – use the flash! If your subject is heavily backlit, use the flash!
BUT, in the cases where your light is even and close to sufficient, going without the flash will provide a softer look to your image. Using natural light eliminates the harsh shadows the flash brings along with it (see the first picture of my daughter here) and in some cases, it evens out the exposure of the background too.
Your camera’s meter will sense there isn’t enough light in your scene and it will automatically pop the flash up. Next time this happens, say “Thank you, but no thank you,” to your camera, gently push the flash back down and increase your “ISO” number in your menu instead. Increasing your ISO makes your camera’s sensor require less light to make an acceptable exposure. You may have to take the shot a few times playing with raising your ISO to different numbers.
Why wouldn’t you just leave your camera set to it’s highest ISO number all the time, you ask? Well, there is a downside to a high ISO number – noise (or grain) will begin to appear in your image. The number at which this happens is different for each camera model, so you’ll have to play with yours (but that’s part of the fun).
How to take better pictures of your kids – Fill the Frame
If the subject of your image is the children on the bicycles – unless the surroundings are an important part of the story you are trying to tell, there is no need for the children to occupy only 25% of the photograph.
Move in closer to the subject or use the zoom on your lens to make your subject a bigger part of your image. Viola! Now you can see your subject in greater detail – for instance, my kids are making a secret plan to suddenly zoom off so I can’t catch them with the camera!
Ps. By zooming in with your lens you will get the added bonus of a blurrier background – helping your subject to stand out even more.
How to take better pictures of your kids – Nail the Focus
We have all done it. A darling shot before us and we think we’ve got it – only to discover later that our focus was off a smidge, leaving us with a sharp background and a blurry subject – argh! This one is as simple as paying closer attention to where your camera is focusing prior to releasing the shutter.
In the example above, you can see my focus in on the frames in the background and my kids are blurry.
Most cameras have more than one focal point option, and you can move from one focal point to another by clicking on the arrows on the back of your camera. If the focal point you have selected is still not exactly in the place you want it, you can use the ‘focus and recompose’ approach.
First, ensure your subject is under the focal point selected. Then, press the shutter button down halfway to lock focus on that subject. Finally, move your camera to recompose the image (keeping the shutter halfway down while you move). Once you have the image framed the way you like it – press the shutter down the rest of the way to take the picture
How to take better pictures of your kids – Simplify the Background
Kids love to get into all kinds of things, and getting into all kinds of things makes for cluttered homes (let’s just blame them for it all, shall we?). So, if Kids = Clutter, then we are sure to have ‘messy’ backgrounds for photographs taken inside our homes.
While it is certainly easier to simply ‘snap-whatcha-see,’ if you take a quick minute to clear the clutter and minimize your subject’s surroundings – the focus will remain on what you are trying to capture in the first place. And, your kids won’t look like they have a plant growing out of their heads.
Did you notice that this bathtub doesn’t have a single thing on it? Also, the kids are wearing their towels IN the tub – hmmm. This is ok! Seen a Pottery Barn catalog lately? My child’s bedroom has an entire wall missing and open to the lake, doesn’t yours? …and we have our dining room table in the middle of a covered bridge, too.
The point of my side note here is, people often notice the subject of the image no matter how unrealistic the surroundings!
How to take better pictures of your kids – Change the Perspective
When we pick up our cameras, it is most natural to simply take the picture from exactly where we are standing – at our eye level. While this will capture the scene before us – often just fine – if you are looking to add some flare to your photo, try a new perspective.
Get down on the floor with your child for a lower perspective, or get up high and look down upon them (try standing up on a chair for added height). Try having them looking up at you with focus on their eyes – this captures the details in their face while the areas around them provide context on the activity they are engaged in.
In the second image here, I can see the intensity with which they are watching their movie. I can even make out the alternating colors on my daughters’ fingernails. I also lose some of the messy cords in the shot.
When I am photographing families and kids, there is so much up and down-ing for me that I have to stretch beforehand (no joke!).
Ready to get started?
These are just five of MANY things you can do to instantly improve the pictures you take of your kids, (and fulfill your Type-A need to be a better family historian). Visit my photography blog for more great tips – or to book a photo shoot if you’re in the Cincinnati area.
And be sure to follow me on Facebook for more quick photography tips!
I’m Holly, and I specialize in creating custom portraiture for families and children in Cincinnati, Ohio and the surrounding areas.