Looking for Tips for taking photos of your children? As a parent, I understand the desire of wanting beautiful pictures and memories of my baby all the time!!! There are certain milestones and memories that warrant a professional photographer, welcoming a new baby, first birthday, learning to crawl, the list is endless. Other memories happen without warning, like developing a new personality trait, learning a new play skill, riding their first bike. I could go on and on. These are moments you want to capture right away at home and it can be with any camera close by. Together with the National Association of Professional Child Photographers (NAPCP) here are few tricks to help make an at-home photography session painless for everyone while still producing plenty of frame-worthy shots:
1. Get on their level: Lay or sit down on the floor to capture the perfect picture. Not only will you be able to see the world from their vantage point, but you’ll also have a better perspective and angles when shooting.
2. Lighting is key: Most parents think that having great lighting can be replaced with a camera’s flash, but the flash can actually make children appear washed out. Instead, utilize indirect, natural lighting by shooting near a window in the house or under the shade of a tree.
3. Never stop shooting: For every good shot, there are typically about 8-10 bad ones, but that’s the beauty of having a digital camera! Change the setting to continuous shooting mode to capture lots of shots in the midst of the action. Even most standard point-and-shoot cameras have some sort of “sport mode” that can accomplish this task.
4. Get to know your camera: Consult your camera’s manual or look up the settings online so that you can take full advantage of all of its different settings. Three key ones to experiment and get comfortable with are the aperture setting, the shutter speed, and the ISO setting.
5. Consider black and white: Black and white photos are not only timeless and classic, but they can also easily cover up the redness and blotchiness of newborns and babies. Adjusting the black and white settings is usually easiest to do after the photo session in photoshop or picasa.
6. Make it fun for them: Kids love to play with their parents, so turn a photo session into playtime! Play games, tell jokes, and sing songs with them – pretty soon, they’ll forget that you’re taking pictures.
7. Get up close and personal: Get close or zoom in to capture all of the small details that make your child unique.
8. Pay attention to the background: Before you start shooting, make sure that any unwanted or distracting items, like a vacuum cleaner or piles of clothes, are out of the way and out of the shot.
9. Bring your camera everywhere: You never know when inspiration will strike. Camera phones make it easier to capture the everyday moments with your children – they can take decent pictures, but don’t always print well because of their low resolution.
10. Show off their personality: Standard portrait photos are parent favorites, but don’t hesitate to shoot pictures of them in their natural settings and behaviors. Their quirky and adorable habits today can usually create the best photos that you’ll treasure years later.
With the Holidays and Christmas fast approaching the above tips will surely turn your Christmas Morning Photos into something spectacular. Want to capture your baby’s child or milestone session with Katrina Barrow? Contact our studio by emailing us at [email protected]
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