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How to Take Great Pictures of Children

By Autumn Lockwood

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 16Mar2010 Word count: 579 Viewed: 478 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Fine tuning your basic photography skills will help you with taking better pictures of children, but there are a few tips and tricks specific to photographing kids that will do wonders in getting some beautiful photos truly worth framing.

The best photographs of children tend to be candid shots, but if you are taking portraits of children, practice with your camera first because kids have a hard time not fidgeting.

When taking candid pictures of children outside, use an optical zoom or a telephoto lens for best results. This will help you take pictures further away so you can become less obvious when taking pictures. The more noticeable you are taking pictures, the more likely the children will be silly or clam up making it hard to get a natural expression. Also be patient. Let them get used to you being there with your camera. Eventually they will relax.

Focus on the subject. The most interesting pictures focus on the subject rather than trying to get everything nearby into the shot.

When taking pictures of children outside, it's best to use "sports" mode or select a high shutter speed like 1/500 and a wide aperture. The larger aperture will blur the background when photographing from about 10 feet away from the child. You can also do this with portrait mode, but the great part of using manual settings is you can blur the background and freeze the action.

If your camera has burst mode, this is also a good one to use with active kids. Burst mode will take several pictures in rapid succession, so you can later choose your favorite.

If you're taking pictures inside and have good indirect light, use your camera without a flash to avoid distracting the children.

Speaking of flash, be extra cautious when photographing babies. Before you use a flash, always check your camera's manual to ensure you're using it from a safe distance. In many cases it will be three feet.

One of the best ways to pose a baby is in the parents arms. Always think "safety first" when posing children. When photographing a child and parent, show relationship by having them look at each other or at the same thing. To get baby to look in the same direction as the parent, shake a gentle noisemaker like a bean bag or small rattle.

When taking pictures of toddlers, you will need to take pictures fast. Take lots of pictures, so you'll be sure to get some really good ones.

One of the very best ways to photograph a child of any age is to wait for when the child is engrossed in something that is really interesting to him or her and then shoot away.

Try to get pictures of those "firsts" like first step, first bike ride, and all those other important moments.

Finally, before taking a picture of someone else's child, unless the child is in public in a group, like marching in a parade, ask the parent for permission. It's legal to take pictures of people, including kids, without permission, but put yourself in the parent's shoes. Most parents would prefer being asked.

Preschool age children can be quite cute when interacting with other kids their age. Always look for the cute photo opportunities when kids are holding hands or helping each other.

As you take more photos you will find that it isn't difficult to get great pictures of children but it does require some time and forethought.

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