I am photographer that lives in South Texas in the Corpus Christi area, all the images featured in this blog were created by me within my surrounding area. This blog post is to highlight my 4 favorite tips to photographing my favorite subject, Children. There is a saying in show business: “Never work with children or animals” – say Know what you are doing first! Like mentioned in an earlier post, children are unpredictable, independent, and have short attention spans. So you need to capitalize on every minute you have, you may only get one smile all day.
This brings us to Tip #1: Take advantage to every moment! The photo doesn’t have to be perfect the first time you click your trigger. Take the photo then tweak your surroundings. In this image the sun was hot, the wind was cranking, and I was having a difficult time getting her to engage with my camera. We had given her a piece of candy, tried to tame her wild wind blown hair, and I was trying to bounce some light back onto her face with a large reflector to my right. This was an initial “Test” but ended up being one of my favorite images during the session, she is gently touching her face with one had to hold her hair back and tucking her other hand holding the candy as I was asking for a bite. So take the picture then tweak the hair, fix the dress, but at least if you get nothing else- you will have shot something.
Tip # 2: Try a different POV (point of view). Its always great to get down at their level to achieve really engaging images where they are glancing straight into your camera lens. But maybe think outside the box a little. Or better yet get on Top of that Box…get up high and look straight down on top of them. This gives you the sense of how small they really are! This will create lasting images that Moms cry over, remembering how little their babies really were.
Tip # 3: Leave them alone. I believe in capturing natural movements with children. I typically start with a general pose, like sitting or standing, but then naturally the kids are just going to start doing what they normally do. Its your job to capture how they really are! Sometimes I like to play the “red-light green light” game, most kids understand the concept. They get to act crazy for 15 seconds or so on “Green” then when I say “Red” they have to freeze and give me a great smile. Or just let them loose- let them Play and do what they want! This beautiful girl wanted to play hide and seek- so she hid in a suit case and I found her!
Tip #4: Give them something to Do! Hand them a new toy that they haven’t seen before, or an item in your home they normally don’t get to touch. This always quiets them down and keeps them in one location while giving them something to do. Its boring to sit or stand in one place while this strange lady is clicking away on her camera. Hand them an item, then you can ask them to describe the item and what its for. Its always a good laugh for the adult while getting great incite to how they think, not to mention the fantastic facial expressions when they are describing the item or toy.
