Capturing a child’s image is not a walk-in-the-park. Children can be anxious, playful, and are almost always all over the place.
Just when you think that you’ve managed to properly set up everything in order to get a glimpse of that perfect shot, the moment slithers away and you have to wait for forever to get the child to cooperate. That’s how complicated child photography is.
But don’t despair. Complications can be avoided and easy facilitation of taking a kid’s photograph can be done with the following dos and don’ts of child photography.
The Dos
- Do allot more time
The longer the time is for the pictorial, the better.In reality, the duration of taking pictures will just take a couple of minutes, provided the subject is cooperative and the photographer was able to capture the perfect in just a couple of clicks. However, in taking children’s pictures, what makes it a very long day is the time spent on begging the kids to stay still. Sometimes, you spend more time chasing the children around the park than taking their pictures.
- Do allow parents to comply
Children, toddlers especially, tend to get rowdy and easily agitated during photo shoots. It can be quite a challenging endeavor to make them follow simple instructions. This is because kids tend to get fidgety and anxious and one of the ways they cope with this anxiety is to act up. And what makes kids even more anxious is the idea that their parents are hovering around. Explain politely to parents that it would be better if they stay at the outset and relax. With parents stepping back, kids become more comfortable with you and will eventually let that genuine smile shine through.
- Do focus on the eyes
The eyes are your primary and everything else – the body, hair, smile, gesture, are all just secondary.Children’s innocence is captured through their eyes.Above everything else, always choose the child’s eyes as your initial focus and everything else will follow suit.
- Do shoot on an equal level
As much as possible, take children’s photos by getting down on their level. Taking a picture from an adult’s vantage point will produce average-looking photographs. Getting down and capturing their images on their level creates perspective and intimacy that the viewers will definitely appreciate.
The Don’ts
- Don’t capture fake
Forcing a smile or a frown easily come out as fake. With kids, the emotions are raw if you let them be. The rawer the emotions, the better the quality of results.You’ll notice that in family portraits, the kids would have the most awkward faces with their distorted smiles and crooked faces. Capture real emotions during the kids’ state of play and wonder like blowing bubbles, or running from water sprinklers, or playing with pets. Following this technique, you’ll realize how significantly different the images are from the fake ones.
- Don’t create backdrops
Let nature do that for you. Let children explore and be themselves by going outside like a yard or somewhere spacious where they can wander with minimal distractions. Children do not find family portraits with boring backdrops amusing. Also, you can ask children to do a particular pose and be surprised at how they cooperate since they don’t feel pressured and will think that the pictorial process is just fun and games.
Children, though considered as one of the most difficult subjects to take a picture of, can convey stunning images and outcomes. Patience and tolerance can take you very far with children photography.