If you've got kids in your life you're surely taking photos. Whether you use a smartphone or you've spent thousands on a DSLR, there are simple tricks you can use to get the best pictures of your children.
Be a part of the action, not apart from it.
The biggest mistake we grown-ups make when taking pictures of kids is turning it into a painful experience for them. The command performance photo shoot rarely yields great results. Watch out for phrases like "stand still", "don't slouch", "cheese". These are nearly certain to produce stiff pictures of unhappy, impatient-looking kids. Sure, there is a time and place for the old-school group photo of the whole family. But, you'll get more interesting pictures if you take in what is happening and adapt to the action rather than imposing on it.
That's not to say you can't set a scene. Many times you can by planning in advance. Set up the toys, or cake, so that the lighting and angles are "naturally" good. Think about where you'll be with your camera in relation to the kids. Do you have enough light? Is the window in the room lighting the children or silhouetting them, making it harder to get a good shot.
Also, take a moment before (or even during) a photo opportunity to get rid of things that will detract from your photos. Dirty faces can make for great shots, but dirty dishes can ruin them. That TV running in the background may be something you can tune out, but it won't enhance your pictures. Again, planning ahead or even making a command decision in the middle of taking pictures can make for much better shots.
Dress for success
When I was seven my mom decided we should have a family portrait taken. My brother, sister, and I were all dressed in stiff formal attire; I can still feel the scratchy wool pants. We were miserable, and what was intended as a family treasure was ruined by a colossal amount of misbehaving.
Contrast that with the happiest pictures I have of my kids. They are in comfortable red and white dresses, running and jumping across the yard. When I am feeling blue I only have to look at their energy and joy and I feel the warm sun they brought to my life.
Lesson - let kids do what kids do. Photograph the truth, not a Hollywood version of "Father Knows Best".
Make it fun!
My favorite pictures of children grow out of watching them be children! Running, dancing, singing, playing. Capturing them doing what makes them happy makes for naturally engaging pictures. With young ones, I like to play peek-a-boo. I focus up the camera on them in advance, and then use the camera to hide my face. I'll say "Where's Sandy?" and then pop my head out to the side and say (with a big smile) "There she is!" Sometimes it takes a few turns to get them into the game, but you'll see all sorts of expressions once you get them into it.
It isn't all about smiles
Childhood isn't just about grins. Your kids are figuring things out as they grow. Get pictures of them eating, thinking, puzzling, reading, and even sleeping. These moments will be gone soon, never to be repeated. Of course, get the smiles, the laughs. But, don't be afraid to take a picture where your child isn't looking straight at the camera; maybe capture them from behind as they contemplate where to go, what to do, next.
Get close
When you do take a portrait don't be afraid to fill the frame with your child's face. Focus on the eyes if you can. A zoom lens can come in handy here as it enables you to get in without being obtrusive. Yes, if your child is playing little league you're going to want to have some pictures of the locale, but when you look back at the event, the images that will be most cherished are the looks on your child's face. Also, try to avoid compositions where a limb is cut off at a joint by the edge of the photo, it can really look odd.
Get down
Some of the best pictures you're likely to get of your kids will come when you're down at their level, or even lower - looking up at them! Sit, crawl, lie on the floor. This is where the action is.
Get up
That said, sometimes taking pictures from above, intentionally showing how the kids are growing, but not yet grown can make for fun pictures that set childhood in context.
Think Fast
You know how exhausted you feel after the kids have gone to sleep. They are in constant motion! Making them stop for you to take pictures turns things upside down. So you're going to want to set your camera to move as fast as your kids. Most cameras, even expensive DSLRs, have a sports mode; it usually looks like a running man on the command dial. This automatically sets your camera to capture the action. Use it! You may have a separate control that puts your camera in burst mode so that you can take multiple pictures with a single press of the shutter. The difference between a great picture and loser is sometimes just a fraction of a second. With your digitial camera you get multiple opportunities to capture a priceless moment.
