How to take better pictures of children

Photographing children is one of the most exciting things to do. If you're shooting your own child, your feelings will be more real. For family photo albums, it is more important to capture the emotional and personality traits of a child than to apply technical skills and skills. In any case, by combining good photography skills with the right timing, you will be able to get a good picture of a child's family. Let's join Jenny Martin at his home in cook lisle, where we co-hosted a master photography class for children.

(1) Natural private studio

The first rule is to make them comfortable in their own environment. While most children are comfortable in their own homes, the darker lighting and the cluttered background will challenge you at home. The park is usually the best choice, where they can make fun of it - and it offers you a good chance to shoot natural pictures of children.

The secret to getting a good picture is to use your garden's topography and scenes as props, to easily capture children. Getting kids to stand in the middle of the lawn, smiling too hard at the camera, will probably not make it. Jenny found it the day the children prefer to run around, if you want to get their attention, to catch their eye, do not lift up the camera chasing them around in the garden. You can do some little games with them and then shoot them. To take more candid photos, you can interact with other things, such as looking for insects, touching pets or moving through the trees.

(2) children's photographic secrets

Use a telephoto lens

Christopher, Jessica and Robyn are typical of their peers, and they don't sit still for a minute. To keep the timing from slipping away from one child, Jenny is far away from the kids, using her 70-300mm lens to focus on different children. Obviously, the longer focal length will increase the blurring of the camera's sway when the shutter speed is low. It is important to use the shutter priority to allow the shutter speed to be greater than the focal length. Using the 200mm focal length, Jenny chose the shutter speed of 1/250 of a second. When it gets to 300mm, she moves the shutter speed up to 1/350 of a second. Turning the focal length to 70mm, she will ensure that the camera's shutter speed is not less than 1/100th of a second.

Need to go lower?

To kneel down. Yes, not just on your knees, but for kids who have just learned to walk, you're going to get down. This makes the picture look more intimate. Of course, sometimes you can shoot from a higher Angle and get a new perspective. In general, if you can get more pictures of your face, you'll be surprised by the pictures you get.

Should the flash be used?

If you have a flash (most SLRS have a built-in flash), you can use them. In our photo shoot, it lights the shadows on Robyn's face and gives her eyes a beautiful glow. If you do a beat, the flash may not keep up with the shutter speed. Leave it alone, and then do it. Whether you use a built-in flash or an external flash set them to the TTL mode and just shoot. Not using the flash, not only will the photos become dark and dull, but the eyes also look unglamorous.

Why pull it closer?

Using the lens to bring the character closer together, not only can show the expression of a child's face, but also can make a virtual background. It will also help you stay away from the kids and leave your kids in your own world, and forget that you're filming them.

Camera Settings

To maximize your chances of success, set your own SLR camera according to our recommendations. Put the technology aside and enjoy the fun of photographing children and create the best picture.

Sensitivity: to solidify the moment, set it higher. ISO 400 should be the best option.

White balance: use daylight setting to make LCD display images consistent colors.

File format: RAW is the best option, but you can also trust high-quality JPEG formats.

Exposure: if you use a telephoto lens, the shutter priority is the first option.

Measure: to make the face accurate, use a central focus to measure light.

Focus: using single focus for static photos, using continuous focus for dynamic photos.

Drive: capture a fleeting moment with a camera.

(3) Capturing movement

Jenny's home was just a few minutes away from the scenic west coast of Ireland, so soon the children ran to the beach to play. When they focus on their own things, we take some amazing and vivid pictures.

To make a series of dynamic shots, we switched the camera to a continuous focus. This allows the camera to keep doing about four beats per second during the shoot. The most important thing is to set the children's action; we use the shutter priority mode, and will be focusing on children, no matter how far the distance to the camera. We also make sure that the camera is on a high-speed camera and can be moved to a shutter speed of 1/500 of a second, so that everything in the picture will be still.

1. Prepare

After setting up the camera, the next thing to do is to prepare for the action. Place your finger lightly on the shutter button and keep your eye on the viewfinder and wait for the best time.

2. Clear imaging

It's important to keep the focus on the kids, where you want to be clear. This is when the autofocus mode can fully function, which can guarantee the sharp image of the main body in motion.

3. The predictive

With the action, what happens next? Current actions may be aborted, and they may continue to grow. If you click the shutter when the opportunity arises, you may miss the opportunity to predict the development of the action.

The orgasm of action

The fourth picture is the best. Though Christopher's eyes were closed, the way he ran was so exciting. Jessica jumped out of the sea and grinned. We managed to keep them in the center of the picture.

5. To close

Now the focus is getting harder and the image is not sharp enough. The child's arm ran out of the viewfinder, and the composition was messy, leaving the picture badly damaged. At this point, the good time has passed.