8 Useful Tips on How to Photograph Children

Little children are not so easy to photograph. Some of them are so lively and active that they simply can’t sit still and wait until mom or dad takes a picture. Others just don’t like being photographed: they make faces and turn away, unwilling to cooperate. However, there are a few photo lifehacks that will help you make wonderful heartwarming photos of your children without any stress and trouble. Read this article, and you will regret that you haven’t learned these tips and tricks earlier!

Let Children Frolic Around

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If your kids are particularly active, give them a chance to burn off excessive energy. Instead of making them sit and pose, let them jump on the bed, shout loudly, play tag, and fool around. While they are doing that, you can make some dynamic pictures that reflect the kids’ lively personalities. Sometime later the little ones will stop to get some rest, and that will be the right time to take wonderful portraits.

Turn the Photoshoot into a Game

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Don’t make it look like something dead serious. Invent a game that would engage the children in the process. If your model is a toddler, try peek-a-boo: it guarantees a sincere smile and a direct look at the camera. For older kids, try role-playing in their favorite costumes, popping soap bubbles, or racing to the camera. The most important thing is that they should enjoy themselves.

Give the Kids Time to Get Used to the Camera

Some children just can’t relax when you point your camera at them. They freeze, act strangely, make unnatural smiles, or take odd poses. Have patience and do not press them: in a while, they will get used to the camera and start being themselves. That’s when you can make some wonderful candid photos.

Switch Roles

8 Useful Tips on How to Photograph Children

If your little model is extremely interested in the camera, let them have a look at it and push the button while you are holding it. The kid can “photograph” their friend or sibling, and after that, you will get your turn and take a shot of them.

Get a Lens Toy to Attract Attention

A cute and colorful lens toy is a must-have for those who want to take pictures of infants or toddlers. It will instantly draw glances and evoke smiles of your little models. You can find all kinds of lens creatures in online stores and pick the children’s favorite one: a frog, a cat, a dinosaur, a reindeer, a unicorn, etc.

Shoot Stealthily

There are two ways to do it. The first one is to use a camera with a flip-out LCD screen so that you won’t need to lift it to your face. Another option is to master shooting with the camera at your chest level, without looking at the screen. You can take some shots while talking to a child from a distance, making sure that they are looking at you. Later you can crop the picture during post-processing.

Take Series of Photos

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When it comes to group photos, it is usually quite challenging to make a good picture of several children at once. Is anyone looking away? Or blinking? Or rubbing their noses? Use the continuous mode and take loads of photos — at least some of them will be great. You will delete the rest later.

Shoot at the Kids’ Eye Level

Though it might sound like a commonplace piece of advice, many parents ignore it and take children’s pictures from above. This results in distorted proportions, making the models look even smaller than they are. Instead, squat down or even lie down on the ground to change the perspective.

We sincerely hope that this list will help you shoot some beautiful and meaningful pictures of your kids. If your shots are not perfect, remember that you can correct a lot of problems during post-processing. With the help of photo editing software you can easily improve underexposed or overexposed pictures, remove shadows and strangers that spoil your children’s pictures. It is also possible to fix the most common issue — blurry photos of moving children. Want to learn how to sharpen blurry photos? Follow the link and find useful tips on fixing photo flaws.

Julie Higgins
Author
Julie is a Staff Writer at momooze.com. She has been working in publishing houses before joining the editorial team at momooze. Julie's love and passion are topics around beauty, lifestyle, hair and nails.