​10 tips for photographing children

If we are parents, canvas prints we should also feel that our children are growing up very fast. They have different looks, expressions and movements at different ages. Therefore, I like to use photography to record their growth process. It's not just that we can look at their photos and appreciate their life. It's that we hope that when they grow up, they will know how to cherish their loved ones and the value of time. Because I think a moving photo, on the surface may be beautiful composition or can capture the important moment, but in the inside is whether it can experience the photographer's emotional expression of the subject. I hope when he grew up to look at the photos we took for him, we can make them feel our parents' love! So we should seize the opportunity to take more beautiful pictures for our children.

1) Capture a moment of nature with a snapshot

Children react differently to the camera at different ages, prints on canvas but there is usually one thing in common: they don't like to look at the camera as much as you'd like. Is it really worth it if they look at the camera? Since we want to record their lives, we should capture their natural moments more. So people can try to capture the moment of their nature without deliberately asking them to look at the camera and take pictures, but waiting for them to get along with their families, interact with some places, or play at home, so as to capture their natural moments without taking some hard or far-fetched photos with smiles.

2) Pay attention to the shooting Angle of the camera, and see the world from the perspective of friends since childhood

The beauty of a picture also often has a lot to do with the background. So if the scene is beautiful, we can take in as much background as possible. However, wall art australia many parents are also used to taking photos of their children standing up. Since the children are shorter than us, we will tilt the camera Angle downward when we take photos standing up. As a result, most of the background of the photos becomes the ground, which wastes the beautiful background. Therefore, we should squat down as far as possible when shooting, and align the Angle of the lens with the children's eyes, so as to absorb more background and enrich the background of the picture.

In addition, when we shoot, sometimes we can even squat down a little bit more, and shoot the lens slightly upward. The feeling of the picture is just like the children seeing the adults and the world's vision, and the effect will be unexpectedly good!

3) Don’t let children attract you too much. Pay attention to the background scenery when shooting

If we only focus on the children when shooting, we will miss the background and peripheral scenery, which will result in the failure of shooting. Take pictures of things that shouldn't be taken. Therefore, we should focus on the front and back of the children when shooting. For example, we should take the background of the children when they are playing in Disneyland. If you have a trash can next to your child, avoid taking photos of it. The photos can express the story you want to tell without too much clutter.

4) Pay attention to the expression of the picture and give yourself a reason for taking the picture

When I practice composition, I often ask myself, "What is my purpose in taking this picture? Is it necessary to let people know what children are doing? ... ", so that they can clearly know the purpose of shooting, so that in the composition of the picture, depth of field, the moment of the shutter to make decisions, so that they want to take a picture of the expression.

There was once an AD for a camera brand that said: "photography doesn't need an idea. This may be a feeling for experienced photographers, but for novice parents may have to first have an idea, so that they are familiar with the shooting method and purpose can practice this shooting method.

5) Pay attention to the horizontal Angle of the camera to reduce the left and right tilt of the picture

Sometimes new parents also pay less attention to the horizontal Angle of the camera when shooting, so that the picture tilts.

It's fine if we're slanting the frame for composition, but if we're getting into the habit of slanting every time we shoot, it's not so good if we're inadvertently slanting the camera left and right. You don't like it when you're watching TV, do you?

6) Determine the edge of the photograph

In order to record the details of children, we can use the wide-angle focal length to take more full-body photos with people and scenes, so as to express their interaction with the scene. However, when taking full-body photos, you should leave as much space as possible for the child's left and right. Don't make the child too close to the edge of the picture, so as to avoid the pressure of the picture. If a small part of the child's body is even left out of the camera, the picture will look unnatural.

8) Avoid taking blurry photos

If the picture we take is beautiful in composition and the child has a sweet smile, but if the picture is blurred, it will be a waste of time (I have experienced a lot...). So please note the following points when shooting:

Shooting with SLR or no SLR:

Use the shutter Mode (S Mode), pay attention to the safety shutter

To take a clear picture, we need to pay attention to the shutter speed. When we shoot with a hand-held camera, it's inevitable that our movements will vibrate, and if the shutter is too slow, it's easy to take a blurry picture. The longer the focal length of the lens, the worse the image will be shaken by us, so there is an important relationship between focal length and shutter speed. So how do we determine the shutter speed without blurring the image? We can set the shutter speed according to the safety shutter.

The safety shutter means that at different focal lengths, the relative shutter value will give a clear picture. Please note that the above shutter value only ensures that under normal shaking conditions, the fuzzy picture will not be taken on the safety shutter. If you're really shaking a lot, the only thing you need to do is increase the shutter speed. In my own case, if I didn't use a long focal length, I would try not to shoot at a time lower than 1/80s in most cases, as a sharp shot is the most important.

Enable camera or lens shock absorption

Besides the safety gate, some lenses are also equipped with shockproof function. For example, Nikon's VRII optical shockproof function USES the swing of the lens to make up for the situation of hand shock. Because there is more space for the lens to move, the shockproof effect is the best. The damping effect reaches three to four shutter speeds. So if underexposure prevents us from shooting at a safe shutter speed, the lens's shock absorber can also help us take sharp pictures.

Aperture control

We like to use a large aperture to take a picture of a child with a shallow depth of field, but too much aperture makes the depth of field too shallow. It is best not to open the aperture too often (e.g. F /1.4~2), or use a wide-angle lens to reduce the depth of field.

9) Use the continuous shooting mode, and don't skimp on pressing the shutter

Children are lively and active. Some lovely expressions or actions are not easily captured by clicking the shutter. So we often need to use the mode of continuous shooting, more shutters to capture the perfect moment. It seems that when they are playing, we can "track" the children's movements through the camera's viewfinder nearby (for example, using a long focal length lens is better), increase the shutter speed as much as possible, and take several photos of them in the same action. When you go home, you just need to save the most expressive photos from the serial snapshot, and delete the ones that are not beautiful, so that you won't waste the storage space, and you won't miss the opportunity to capture the perfect picture.

10) Turn toys into props for shooting. Play with children while shooting

The key to the success of shooting children is to solidify their childlike moments. Therefore, in addition to exposure, composition, color, atmosphere and other elements, in the final analysis, the most important thing is how to capture every subtle expression and movement of children. When is a good time to capture their beautiful expressions? Play time, of course! Therefore, when the shooting site has no special facilities for them to play, they will feel bored and become unwilling to shoot for us. We can bring their favorite toys or prepare some small toys to play with while shooting.

In fact, on the Internet also see a lot of parents take photos is also very beautiful, although they use the shooting skills or techniques are not the same, but there is a common point is the heart to shoot. So as long as we spend more time with our children and more time with them, large stretched canvas we will have a chance to meet their happy and lovely moment, and make us take beautiful photos