3 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Children

1. Eliminate distractions from the background.

A quick clean up (which for me often means shoving things just barely out of the frame of the camera) helps keep the focus on the subject, rather than the viewers eyes being drawn to the cluttered counters, or your dirty laundry in the background. You can also try removing distractions by simply changing your angle, or taking a few steps closer to your subject so that the child is taking up more of the frame and you don’t have a lot of background.

2. Get down to their level.

There are times when you may want to take a picture from above, but usually, you should close to eye level with the child. Not having someone tower over them helps them feel a little more comfortable and helps create a connection for a more powerful image!

3. Let them be silly.

Are you just hoping for a nice, smiling picture of your child? Do you ask them to look at the camera and smile? Or say “cheese?” Getting a genuine smile from a child on command is difficult. They don’t know how to do it!

It isn’t natural, and it doesn’t feel or look natural. The trick here is to let them relax and be a kid. Get them laughing. Encourage a little silliness!  I like to  talk to them and come up with ridiculous things to say that will make them laugh. I look for the “in between moments” where they are genuinely laughing or smiling, and that is when I click the shutter!

Currently, my “go to” with young children is to tell them my faaaaaavvvvvvortie kind of pizza. Any guesses as to what it might be? Stinky monkey pizza of course! It is SO delicious! I ask them if they would eat some, or ask them what their favorite silly pizza is. We will then go back and forth making up silly pizzas and laughing about them. The kids usually don’t even realize that I am taking pictures during these conversations! For me, it is really all about watching for the moments in between the silliness. Rarely do stinky pizzas let me down!

Now, all you crazy camera mamas (aren’t we all!)– Go! Go take some pictures of your kiddos. Preserve those precious memories today, for the tomorrows when they have grown!