How to photograph children - technical points. How to photograph children. Photography Tips

When a baby appears in the family, even parents who are very far from photography pick up a camera. This is not surprising, because the child changes every day, but behind the daily chores, moms and dads do not always have the opportunity to see and feel it. Photos help capture the most amazing, pleasant moments. In addition, the children themselves grow, mature, and from a certain age they begin to be interested in their infancy, repeatedly referring to the family photo archive. Some rules for photographing newborns will help optimize the shooting process and improve the quality of the final result.

Moms take note!

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1. Babies should be photographed frequently. Every day, kids change, master new emotions, actions. The expression of their faces, state, mood are changing. Such metamorphoses should not be overlooked, so it is better to capture your favorite little one every day.
2. Don't forget to take multiple shots from each angle. Some photos may not be very successful or out of focus, or, conversely, by repeatedly pressing the Shutter button, you can suddenly catch an interesting moment. Babies still do not know how to pose, so the originality and uniqueness of the picture entirely depends on the skill of an adult.
3. Make it a habit to regularly clean up your family photo bank and remove bad or duplicate shots. There is no need to store dozens of identical pictures in the computer's memory. Choose the best shots, this will save you in the future from looking through tons of slides looking for the right one.
4. The best time to photograph newborns is during the daytime. Firstly, daylight is much more successful than electric. Secondly, the baby himself will be more disposed to shooting during the day, especially if he has already managed to eat and sleep. By the way, it is not necessary to wait for the baby to wake up. Children look great in the photo and sleeping, especially since newborns spend most of the day in this state.
5. Turn off the flash. The baby may be frightened of the flash, in addition, bright light adversely affects the retina.
6. Involve other family members in the photo shoot. In the arms of mom or dad, next to a brother or sister, a newborn baby will feel more comfortable and calmer.
7. Create atmosphere and mood. For children's pictures, beautiful outfits, toys, cute and cozy little things are needed: baskets, blankets, pillows, interior items. If you want to take a beautiful shot, remove all unnecessary things from the frame, experiment with props and go for it.
8. Come up with interesting stories. Here everything is limited only by the flight of the photographer's imagination. For example, one of the most popular plots is the contrast between an adult and a baby: a baby holds his dad's finger with a tiny hand, dad or mom hold tiny heels in their palms.
9. Always keep your camera handy. Staged beautiful photos are great, but you can also catch inspiration for shooting in everyday affairs. Bathing, massage, breastfeeding, motion sickness, the first walks in a stroller - probably, in terms of their aesthetic qualities, such pictures will be inferior to staged ones, but in terms of their plot, they will definitely be more valuable for the whole family.
10. Do not be afraid of whims and crying. A crying baby is a completely normal picture, in such a state and mood it is also worth photographing a newborn.
11. Be sure to make close-ups: face, arms or legs. Such photographs perfectly convey the tenderness and touchingness of a small creature. Very funny and cute photos are obtained when you manage to catch an interesting moment: the baby yawns, squints, smiles shyly.
12. Feel free to print your photos. Photos on paper are much more “alive” than on a computer screen.
13. Try to find time and go with the whole family to a professional photo session. No matter how hard parents try, no matter how natural home photos are, professional photography has its own charm. Competently exposed light, professional equipment, retouching and the skill of the photographer in total result in a real work of art (By the way, you can order the services of a photographer here -).

Spontaneous and not so, amateur and professional, any photos of a newborn baby are a memory for a lifetime. Many parents are so fond of photography that they implicitly begin to master photo editors, learn how to retouch photos, make collages and slide shows themselves. This is an enjoyable and creative activity - another way to show love to your child.

Time passes quickly. And our babies are growing... growing out of diapers, then out of children's tights, out of winter overalls... They are getting older and older... each of us has access to a magical way to stop the moment - to capture everything in a photograph. Today I invite you to talk about the intricacies and secrets of professional children's photography.

Secrets of baby photography

Children's photography is considered the most sincere and at the same time the most difficult to master. Many photographers prefer not to work with children at all, or study for a long time in order to master the basics of this difficult task. That is why parents should definitely help them and prepare with their children for a photo shoot in advance.

Not everyone understands that a children's photo shoot is a separate independent type of photography. As in any other form, there are categories and separate directions. Conventionally, they can be divided into the following:

1. Newborns and babies up to six months. Such crumbs, of course, are most often photographed at home. It will be convenient for both you and the specialist. The main thing to remember is that a flash is harmful for such crumbs. Although a true professional knows all this and will not harm the baby.
2. Children from six months to 2 years. This is a completely different, almost meaningful category. Children are already actively showing emotions at this age, they can crawl, walk. It is already much more difficult to attract the attention of such little ones, and even more difficult to keep this attention.
3. Children from 2 to 4 years old. This is the best age for photo shoots, both family and portrait. They already perfectly understand what they want from them, they often like to pose in the frame, and they love to indulge and dress up. Of course, there are cases when the other side of the “medal” is also included: whims and harmfulness like “I don’t want”, “I won’t”, “Get away from me” and stuff like that. The main thing here is not to force the child to be photographed by force. Shift your attention while he's acting up to something else.
4. Preschoolers, children from 4 to 7 years old. At this age, shyness may appear, or vice versa, excessive self-indulgence. But the plus is that at such a time it is already easier to negotiate with children, ask them to take a certain position, be silent, sit in silence so that the photographer can calmly do his job.
5. School children, teenagers. Here an important element should be the ability to negotiate and get along with the child. If he does not want to be photographed, then most likely you will have to refuse this venture.

How to photograph children?

It is especially difficult for photographers of babies, because they are active, and you can’t force them to pose or sit still. Today we decided to tell you about interesting ideas for a children's photo shoot, the possibilities of designing works from children's photographs and other secrets that will be useful to any parent who wants to leave traces and memories of the childhood of the growing heirs as much as possible.

I told about our first experience of professional photography to Arseniy when he was two years old, and Alyosha was six years old.

When heading into a professional photography studio with your little ones, you may find the following helpful:

• changing accessories, hygiene products, so as not to get into an incidental situation;
• Toys and various objects, mostly bright colors: rustling paper, rattles, colored draperies, a lens toy, and so on. If the baby has a toy with which he sleeps, he is used to calming down with it, then be sure to take it with you;
• Be sure to have several sets of clothes to change. It can be a variety of clothes - home, smart, sports, as well as beautiful children's outerwear.

As a rule, in the studio, photographers who often take pictures of children create all the conditions for the child and their parents.

An important tip - it is best to go to children's photo shoots in the morning, before 10-11 o'clock in the afternoon, when the child is active, plays and does not want to sleep.

Another little secret to a successful photo shoot with kids is to start the process right away. Discuss this moment with the photographer in advance and ask them to set up all the necessary equipment in advance, prepare inventory and accessories.

It is possible to use additional props. A lot of things are done by professionals. Handmade props add exclusivity and creativity to a children's photo session. You can also make something for a photo shoot. Interior figures will look great if you are organizing a photo shoot for a baby’s birthday, or handmade garlands, paper lanterns and other useful ones.

There are specialists who do absolutely nothing supernatural, but simply allow children to play in the studio, and at the same time take pictures of them. No wonder they say that the best shots are obtained precisely when a person does not specifically pose for the camera. With children, too. The sincerity, immediacy of the child, his simple and at the same time such pure emotions - all this can catch the lens of a good children's photographer.

As for older children, then the conversation is completely different. Just like that, a grown-up six-seven-year-old will not smile at a toy. That is why, in order to make the shots as natural and interesting as possible, talk to your daughter or son in advance, tell us why you want to do this photo shoot. Do not force your child to be photographed on days when he feels unwell or is simply in a bad mood.

Vignette photo in kindergarten

Kindergarten is another important stage for the family. The intensity of this "importance" occurs in the senior and preparatory groups, when children's photography becomes paramount in terms of future pride and remembrance.

This is what awaits our family this year. The youngest son is graduating from kindergarten and entering the 1st grade. And I want to capture the most interesting and important, so that he himself would then look at his album with pleasure.

Fortunately, today photographers offer 1000 and one idea of ​​creating photo books and original vignettes for kindergarten graduates. A photo for a vignette in a kindergarten should be original and at the same time simple. However, there are some subtleties here that will help you not be disappointed with the result.

1. When preparing a child for a photo shoot in kindergarten, first of all, you should think about clothes. It should be not only beautiful, but also comfortable, so that the child does not press anywhere, does not subside, does not embarrass, etc.
2. When talking about clothes, you should also remember about the color scheme. Excessively bright colors of clothes distract from the child's face, and the snow-white color and shades of white and cream can "spoil" the photographer's frame with an extra glow. It is also not recommended to use the predominance of blue in clothes. It is better to discuss with the photographer in advance the color of the background used, and start from this.
3. The hairstyle should also match. And if it is enough for boys to make a fresh, neat haircut, then you need to think about hairstyles for girls in advance. High "tails" and loose hair are undesirable. A beautiful braid looks best.
4. Organizing a photo shoot in the air, in the gym or just in a group, you can dress the children in a sporty way. A group dressed in the same costumes, for example, in the same sports style, will look very stylish.
5. Bring children to a photo session in kindergarten in advance, and not 10-15 minutes in advance. Children should get used to a stranger, get comfortable, and finally tune in to the event and photography.

Many parents and children are wondering: how to go out well in photographs? The answer is simple and suitable for any situation, for any photography, the main secret is naturalness, being yourself. In children, if they are not disturbed, this works best. If they are sad, they are sad; if they are happy, then they are cheerful and restless. A small child does not yet know how to pretend.

Ideas for a kindergarten graduate photo book

Ask to add photos from the sports, music hall to the children's graduation album. Let the photographer spend the whole day or even several days with the children: stay in class, at lunch, before a quiet hour, in the game room. This will give the photo book "liveness" and originality.

Here is an example of shooting in a music hall. Here, children can pick up any musical instruments and dance around the photographer. No, the photographer will not be circling with your children trying in vain to capture a beautiful shot, he will simply "catch" the most beautiful shots in order to capture as many good fun moments as possible.

Shooting in the gym is even better! Here fantasy is limitless. You can build an obstacle course from soft cubes, chairs and toys, and let the kids play, have fun, overcome difficulties on the way. And the photographer, armed with a camera, “catches” the best sincere shots.

Amazing photobooks and offers. This is not just a photo book of graduates, but also exciting fairy-tale adventures that teach kindness and courage.

The presentation of books about them, leads to the incredible delight of the guys! The children's eyes sparkle with joy and amazement. Curiosity makes you open the book and plunge into the world of fabulous events. And the book is re-read many times. You can find out more about such a photo book for kindergarten or elementary school graduates here.

This video provides actionable tips from a professional photographer on how to photograph children.

The kids are growing fast. Often you want to capture every minute, every hour of growing up a child. Modern technologies help us to make good shots, but really good work of a real specialist and professional is irreplaceable.

Tell us about your experience with vignette photography in kindergarten. Did it work? Did the result meet expectations? I will be grateful for your invaluable experience!

I wish you bright images and great pictures!

Warmly

paparazzi mom tips

This article is dedicated to amateur photography parents, and we will talk about how to properly photograph our own children. Today we will not talk about other people's children, but we will deal with our own small models.

Firstly, they are always at hand, or better to say, spin underfoot. That is, it is a grateful and affordable object for photography.

Secondly, you do not need to ask permission to take pictures and publish photos. Until the child turns 18, you decide what and where to publish. This is convenient if you run your own blog or sell stock photos. Although now the time is such that even four-year-olds should be asked for permission to publish their pictures on Facebook! All photos presented here are published with the permission of my daughters.

Thirdly, children change every day and do not remember themselves at an early age. With the help of photographs, we fill in the "blank spots" in their memory. By creating a photo chronicle, we allow a grown child to return to childhood. Flipping through his home album and looking at his photos, he will create for himself the story of his life. In the pictures where the child is depicted in the arms of his father and mother, in the arms of his grandmother, with his favorite toy, he will draw evidence that he was loved and loved. And this is a very important feeling for a person! It gives an adult support, self-confidence. So, and you say, just pictures in a family album!

When photographing children, capture natural emotions!

Childhood is a feeling of freedom and flight!

Being a parent - the paparazzi is very difficult! Capturing these crazy gnomes in their natural habitat is as exciting as it is challenging! Perhaps the most important thing in photographing children is to follow them, watching them from the sidelines and not intruding into their lives, capturing vivid natural emotions.

Therefore, today we will not touch on staged shooting, but will talk more about reportage.

Of course, you can take on the role of a screenwriter and write down what and how the child should do while you are photographing him: “Sunny, look at mom, now wave your pen!”. Sometimes you wonder where the little model got these cutesy posing stamps from? Perhaps you saw it on TV. Keep the naturalness in the child longer, do not force him to pose. Do not teach children bad things, they will learn on their own!

Many children, when they see a camera in the hands of an adult, immediately begin to pose.

Technical points you need to know

Lens selection

First of all, let's think, how will you? If it's a group of kids indoors, then a 17-35mm wide-angle lens is best. Our rooms usually allow the use of optimal "portrait" focal lengths of 50-100mm only for close-ups. In full growth, you can’t take a picture of a house model with them. Will have to come to terms with this.

If we are shooting portraits at close range, then a 50-100mm lens is fine. Normal focal lengths (50mm) or short telephoto lenses (70-135mm) are recommended. Wide-angle ones distort features if the person is close. When shooting a portrait with a 17mm lens, you can end up with cartoon-like faces: a big muzzle and a small body. Or large shoes and somewhere in the distance a small head. By the way, this is also an interesting artistic technique. Of course, if the model has a sense of humor and will not be offended.

This shot clearly shows the two main mistakes when shooting a portrait. First, the picture was taken at a focal length of 35 mm at close range, which distorts facial features. Secondly, the focus is not on the eyes, but on the lips.

If you want to photograph the "Redskin leaders" from a safe distance, you can use a telephoto lens up to 200mm. In this case, we can "hunt" stealthily so that our presence is not noticeable. But this will require a large open space where you can move to the distance you need from the subject.

I prefer to take pictures with lenses that can change the focal length, the so-called zooms or zoom lenses 17-70mm. They give the necessary freedom to react correctly to ongoing events, to bring the object closer or further away without leaving the spot.

Shutter speed, aperture and ISO for taking pictures of children

Since children are perpetual motion machines and jumpers, you need to set the shutter speed to at least 1 / 160-1 / 200 seconds, since at any moment a child can make an unpredictable sudden movement. It is very convenient to shoot in shutter priority mode (indicated by Tv or S).

And it's best to crop with a margin so that our active subject does not jump out of the frame. That is, to take a more open picture, to capture a decent part of the surrounding space. This will avoid cut off body parts. Agree, we need our whole child, safe and sound. Then, in post-processing, we can remove the excess.

In order not to miss the “same” frame, it is useful to take continuous shooting. This function can be set in the settings of your camera. In this case, you press the "start" button once, and the camera takes a series of pictures, from which you can choose 1-2 decent ones.

A shutter speed of 1/500 second caught the baby in motion, ISO 160. The aperture was closed to 7 to increase the depth of field. Used tracking autofocus and continuous shooting.

If you need to take a photo of a child in a jump when he is running, then you will have to set a very fast shutter speed of 1/300 and shorter, 1/800. This can be done on a bright sunny day or with pulsed light.

The optimal aperture for shooting children is f 5.6. This value will give a good depth of field, but will not slow down the shutter speed. However, if you want to achieve an artistic effect and softness of the image, then open the aperture as much as possible.

If you communicate with the camera “on you”, then you can start making a report at those moments when the child is calm, for example, he draws, plays chess, watches cartoons, plays with bubbles in the bath. In this case, the shutter speed can be increased to 1/100, and sometimes up to 1/60 second. But don't forget that it's important to follow the "golden exposure" rule: 1/(focal length x crop factor). Otherwise, the picture may be blurry.

Photo taken without flash, 47mm, 1/80 sec, ISO 125, f5.6

What ISO to install? Taking pictures of children is one of those times when you can max out the ISO. This will reduce the shutter speed and not open the aperture wide, thereby increasing the depth of field. If you have a compact with a small matrix, then ISO 400 will be the limit for you. On modern amateur SLR cameras, ISO can be raised up to 800. Good reportage and professional cameras allow you to take pictures with ISO 3000 - 5000.

How is the ISO limit determined? If you increase the ISO, then noise will appear, which will make your picture "dirty" and fuzzy. The appearance of colored dots in the image and “grain” is a sign that you have approached the limit of good quality for your camera and you should not increase the ISO further. Although sometimes you can neglect this and get a noisy shot that shows your child at some special moment. After all, the photos you love are often less than perfect. They won’t be accepted into a glossy magazine, but you can put them on Vkontakte or send them to your grandparents.

How to focus?

It is best if the lenses are fast in the range from f / 1.8 to f / 2.8, since at a shutter speed of 1/200 second there is often not enough light in the room, so you have to open the aperture, and this reduces the depth of field.

And we face another problem: where to focus? It is best to set the focal length and aperture so that the depth of field is sufficient and, at a minimum, when shooting a portrait, the entire face is in focus. But if there is no choice, then we focus on the eye, which is closer to the camera.

When taking a full-length shot of a moving child, some photographers prefer to focus manually. They “aim” at a certain point in advance by asking someone to pose, then wait for the child to be at that point, and press the shutter button. This method works great if you shoot jumping, running, sports, games, and something else like that.

You can use the pre-focusing method described above on the auto, then switch to manual focus mode.

I do not have very good eyesight and this option is not suitable, so I shoot with autofocus. What can I do to prevent autofocus from overshooting? First of all, set the focus to one point. If the child runs towards you or away from you, or swings on a swing, then tracking autofocus can be used. Designated Servo AF for Canon cameras and Continuous-servo AF for Nikon. In this case, the camera will constantly follow the subject when it approaches you or moves away if you hold the camera's shutter button halfway (the so-called lock focus).

There is also a special program that professional photographers told me about. It allows you to take a picture when the focus point is triggered. It is called Magic Lantern, works from a memory card and does not require camera firmware, which is important when it is under warranty. This software is not available for all cameras, but it definitely works for the Canon Mark II 5D. I did not use such a program, but maybe someone from those who read these lines will find this information useful.

Should I use a flash when photographing children or not?

If possible, it is better to use natural light. Moreover, in bright sunny weather, for example, on the beach, even automation will perfectly cope with its task - to make a quick and clear shot. If this is not enough, you want something artistic, then we will have to think.

One common myth is that flash is evil! I can't agree. You just need to know how to work with her. All studio photo shoots are done with flash. Often professional outdoor photos are taken with the help of additional lighting. Only these light sources are called not “flash”, but “pulsed light”.

As already mentioned, children do not like to sit still. Therefore, we reduce the shutter speed to 1/200 of a second. To achieve the correct exposure, what should be done? Correctly! Increase light output. And the flash will help us with this.

It is best to use an external flash with diffuser attachments. Ideally, an umbrella or light box serves as a diffuser. If there is no external flash, then in extreme cases you can use the built-in flash, but soften it by making a homemade diffuser or using a factory one.

The picture was taken on a bright sunny day, but in the shade of a tree. Flash was used.

How can flash be used outdoors? Why run around with fire during the day? In summer, a flash can help when shooting at noon to soften hard shadows. In this case, its power is slightly reduced, depending on the intensity of the ambient light. Often this technique is used in backlighting, when the sun beautifully illuminates the model's hair from behind, and the flash illuminates the face in front.

But do not forget that the range of the flash is limited by its characteristics. Therefore, choose the correct distance from the flash to the model. If the flash is far away, then it is useless. If it is too close, then you need to adjust the pulse power so that there are no overexposures.

A flash will also help out when shooting in the shade of a building or under trees. Although in this case you can do without it, if you can set the correct exposure. Another important point. A flash to illuminate shadows helps to avoid noise in these areas.

Direct built-in flash produces harsh shadows and red eyes. But sometimes the game is worth the candle if we want to capture some special moment, and nothing else is at hand.

If it is easy to photograph children on the street, then at home there may not be enough light. In such cases, there are two ways. First, wait for the sun to enter the house and combine two suns in one place: the child and the sun's rays. Or shoot near the window, highlighting the reflector from the shady side. And this can be done even in cloudy weather.

If we need to use a flash, then if possible we bounce it off the ceiling or off the wall. Remember that children's eyes are especially sensitive! In addition, direct flash leaves hard shadows. To avoid shadows under the eyes, you can extend the “petal” on the flash or make a homemade one from a white piece of cardboard.

When working with reflected light, be sure to pay attention to the color in which the walls and ceiling of the room are painted. If the walls are painted, for example, green, then the light will be reflected from them and the picture will have the corresponding color dominant, which is difficult to get rid of.

If we photograph with a front flash indoors, for example, in our apartment, then this type of lighting will allow us to visually “clean up the room”, since the main pulse of light will be directed at the child and the exposure will be taken from him, and the entire background will be darkened, so in this darkness it will be difficult to see our creative home clutter. In addition, in post-processing, you can additionally darken unwanted areas. Here is such a little female trick.

This portrait of the eldest daughter was done just like that: an external flash bounced off the ceiling and lightly worked on the background.

And you say flash is evil! No, it's your little hand sun.

Watch out! Children!

Shooting children is equated with especially dangerous conditions. Therefore, it is worth taking security measures, for example, protecting the lens with a filter. You can wear a hood. Do not leave the camera unattended and in places where children's hands can reach.

Those who photographed children in their natural habitat remember how many times they wiped the lens from chocolate, saliva and other viscous substances. Of course, if you want to achieve special artistic effects, you can use this. If not, then a lens cleaning kit that includes a special liquid will be very useful to you!

A typical problem for mothers - photographers is that the child, having seen the camera, begins to pull his hands towards it, pulls on the strap and interferes with taking pictures, actively participating in the process.

First, hold the camera firmly, put the strap around your neck. It can be helpful to have a second adult help you by taking your child's attention away from the camera. Take pictures at home often so that the child gets used to and stops reacting to the camera. Learn to sneak up unnoticed. To do this, you can turn off the sound signals in the camera settings.

If this does not help, then sit next to the baby and patiently show him the camera, allowing him to press the buttons. Maybe the child will soon get tired of this activity. If the kid decided to become a photographer, then give him a children's camera and take pictures together.

Photographing children while playing!

When we ask a child to look into the camera, we very often achieve the opposite effect: the child turns away and hides. What to do?

The game can solve this problem. Stock up on patience. Most children do not listen to the instructions of the photographer: "Sit up straight, look here!". It is necessary to create such an environment so that they behave naturally, wait for the right moment, communicating with them, playing.

When we photograph children at the age of several months to a year, we can attract their attention using special toys that are put on the camera lens. They can also be made by hand.

Older children are much easier to communicate with. You can already have a dialogue with them. It's good if you can make the kids laugh. You can play hide and seek when mom or an assistant hides behind the photographer and looks out: "Ku-ku!".

There is another interesting game that was invented by the wonderful children's photographer Igor Gubarev. The child is standing with his back to us. At this time, we sharpen, adjust the exposure, after that we give a signal: “Catch me with your eyes!”. The child must turn around and find where the photographer is.

When we take a photo of a group of children, the situation becomes more complicated. No matter how old our little friends are, they are very active in the flock! Therefore, on the one hand, you must achieve natural behavior, and on the other hand, take control of the situation. Story games work well for this. For example, tell them they are pirates or fairies. Ask everyone to close their eyes and open them on the count of three. At this moment, take a picture, then everything will turn out with open eyes.

In my practice, it helped when I showed the children the results of photography on the display. If before that they were wary of their aunt with a camera, then after showing the pictures, they began to actively pose and participate in the photo session. But there are also pitfalls in this. Firstly, the children will not let you pass until they get tired of being photographed. Secondly, posing, they lose their naturalness. So if you have staged shooting, then it makes sense to show what happened in the first frames. If this is a reportage, then it is better to show pictures at the end of the photo shoot.

If the children are adults, then you can conduct an experiment: give them a camera in their hands. Let them take pictures of each other. Let's hope that the camera will remain intact, and such pictures can be shown to the grandmother without fear that she will have a heart attack.

Shooting angle

Shooting from above shows how small children are. If you also shoot close and wide-angle, then the head will turn out to be very large. In most cases, it looks like a caricature. But at the same time, shooting from below makes giants out of children. Sometimes they like it. The best position is when the photographer takes the picture at the level of the child's eyes. Therefore, a children's photographer needs to learn how to move around in a half-crouch, crawl like a bell and move with the dexterity of a lizard.

A child is a little man in the world of adult Gullivers. Therefore, it turns out very interesting if you photograph it on a scale with "adult" objects: with large spoons, in dad's hat or mom's shoes.

How to store baby photos

Baby photos are a product that only grows in value over time. Therefore, do not spare space on your hard drive. Set up your camera to get the highest resolution shots and the best quality if you shoot in jpg.

Shoot in RAW format, don't skimp on the memory card. Photographing children is like a complex photo essay, as you have to work in constantly changing conditions and act quickly. Therefore, stock up on a sufficient number of memory cards, since many of your pictures will go to waste, and the rest will need to be edited in graphic editors.

When you get home, save the originals and never work directly on them to avoid overwriting the modified version on top of the original. Over time, you will learn how to process images better, more advanced graphic editors will appear and you will want to return to the source. Therefore, keep it in its original size and unchanged.

Common mistakes when photographing children

1. Severed legs, arms, heads.
2. Distortion of body proportions due to incorrect focal length and shooting point
3. Closed eyes (exception - creative intent).
4. The child turns out to be blurry, the portrait has blurry eyes
5. The background contains a lot of unnecessary objects, an untidy room is visible
6. In addition to the child, there are many unnecessary objects in the frame
7. In the photo on a sunny day, the shadow of the photographer is visible
8. The photo shows the date it was taken.
9. Baby turned away
10. Don't take pictures of crying babies. It will be unpleasant for them to watch these shots later.
11. Do not post pictures of naked children online.
12. Learn to edit photos!
13. The biggest mistake: DO NOT take pictures of your child, afraid to make all the previous mistakes! All the same, the worst quality photo of our child is the best!

And now a small task:

FOR NEWBIES

1. Take a picture of your child when he is doing something in a calm environment. Pay attention that the face is visible, and not just the bowed crown.
2. Take a picture of the child in full growth from above. Make sure that the legs, arms and head are not cut off.
3. Now literally lie down on the floor and take a picture from below. Compare two frames. What conclusions can be drawn? How do body proportions change depending on the shooting point?
4. View your photos from the archive. What are the typical mistakes you make most often?

FOR ADVANCED

1. Make a photo essay "A Day in the Life of My Child" from the moment he wakes up to a bedtime story. What interesting moments did you manage to catch?
2. Take a picture of the child in motion, make it visible in the photo.

Camera settings are a matter of personal preference. Once, I worked in the editorial office of a newspaper, where everyone took pictures - from the editor-in-chief to the layout designer. At the bottom there were about 4 cameras, all SLRs with interchangeable lenses, but they all shot on the magical "AUTO". I'm not saying it's bad. Rather, it's stupid. If you see something interesting and don't have time to adjust your shutter speed or aperture, it's understandable. However, when you are going to shoot children at home, they are playing, or whatever else they like to do there, then you will have a couple of minutes to try different settings.

ISO (matrix sensitivity / film /)

This is the first thing I usually set up. If you have a soap dish, then set the shooting mode to at least one in which you can manually adjust the ISO, usually P. Try to set the minimum ISO, if possible, within reason, of course. If you are shooting outdoors in bright weather, and even in the snow, then set it to 100 or less. If you went into the forest - put 200, because at a low ISO you may not have worked out the details in the shadows. If the weather is normal and even slightly cloudy, then most likely 200 will be enough for you, if it is getting dark or cloudy - 400. At home, with a flash, I shoot at 200, but I have an external, powerful flash. If you shoot at a fairly long distance with a flash, then set it to 400. If your room is bright, but you want to shoot without a flash, try not to shoot up above 600 ISO, unless you have a full-frame DSLR, of course. In general, all modes above 400-600 need to be tested. Most soap dishes will definitely make noise, good cameras can handle ISO and more than 800, the larger the matrix, the better. But at 800 I only shoot when necessary - secret papers, dollars, etc.

Shutter speed (shutter priority Tv or S)

If you have devil children and they do not sit still, then it is better to shoot with a minimum shutter speed. 1/200 and less - 1/500-1/1000 if light. Use the sports mode (AF tracking) in the camera, continuous shooting if available. If the children are sitting in one place, painting the wallpaper or tearing off the linoleum on the floor, then you can increase the shutter speed, this will give you the opportunity to adjust the aperture.

Aperture (aperture priority Av or A)

The faster your lens, the more f-stops you'll see. If you want to shoot a portrait so that the back is out of focus, then open the aperture - 2 or 3.4. If there is, then less.

If you want the whole room to be in sharpness, all the children in it, then close the aperture - 8, 12, 16. Hence the depth of field - depth of field. The more closed the aperture, the sharper everything around will be. But, keep in mind that as you increase the aperture, your shutter speed will automatically decrease and vice versa. One depends on the other. If you have an aperture of 16 - the matrix needs more light to work through the frame - the shutter speed is increased to 1/30 or 1/15 or the flash power. As a last resort ISO. But, in most cases, this will not bother you - in Tv or S mode - the aperture is adjusted automatically, the same applies to Av or A mode.

Focusing

If you have a SLR camera, set the focus mode to single point. Soap dishes also have something similar. My Canon SX50 HS has an AF tracking mode, i.e. when I set the sharpness (the button is pressed halfway), the frame still continues to follow the focus if the object moves. In any case, here you need to experiment with those modes that suit you.

Flash

When shooting with an external flash, you can bounce it off the ceiling or even the floor, thus producing indirect light. The built-in flash is usually quite harsh and produces harsh shadows and red eyes. However, having nothing else at hand, I cut out a small bag from white paper and put it on the flash. It turns out in front of the lamp diffuser, and part of the light goes to the ceiling. At least you can get rid of rough shadows in this way. In general, using the reflective light of the flash, you can get interesting shots. Also, don't forget about fill flash if you're shooting outdoors against the sun.

Photographing a child is an exciting adventure, like a treasure hunt. The world of children consists of unusually bright moments, each of which can become a wonderful frame and decorate your family photo album. But these moments follow each other too quickly, and the immediacy of shooting is so easy to break. How difficult is it to learn how to photograph children and are there any tricks that allow an amateur photographer to take a good picture of a baby? With this question, we turned to Lyalya Garbuz, a well-known children's photographer, author of the online course "Learning to photograph babies and babies". She shared professional secrets with us.

If you are lucky enough to become parents and receive such a wonderful "nature" as a child as a gift from fate, do not neglect the opportunity to improve your level of photography. Photographing is an ideal hobby for moms and dads, who devote almost all their free time to the baby. This activity will make even an everyday walk fun and interesting, bring your parents together, open up a whole world of beauty and harmony to you. Become your child's photographer today. After all, children grow and change so quickly. How many great shots have you already missed?

Learning how to photograph a child so that guests, looking at the photo album, gasp with admiration, is not at all so difficult. For this, it is not necessary to have sophisticated photographic equipment and years of professional experience. Approach it lightly and joyfully, just like your child. Do you have a camera? There is a desire? It's enough. There is a great way to learn the basics of photography without spending a lot of time or money. It is especially popular with young mothers who do not have the opportunity to study full-time, but they really want to learn new things, share their thoughts and feelings with other people. These are online photography courses. And one of them is called “Learning to photograph babies and babies”.

Instead of volumes from the library and monotonous lectures, students of the online photography school read articles richly illustrated with beautiful pictures and watch video tutorials. They receive personal tasks from the teacher, which they can complete in their free time from household chores, send the photos taken to the teacher, receive personally addressed professional advice, share their impressions with other students and evaluate their work in internal competitions.

By the end of the training, you already have your first portfolio - a complete photo album of beautiful, interesting shots approved by friends in the photo club and professionals. Perhaps by this point you are already eyeing better photographic equipment and even thinking about a career as a children's photographer. By the way, this is how the career of Lyali Garbuz began. After all, in the beginning, she just wanted to learn how to take great photos of her kids.

You will definitely succeed. You can be convinced of this today if you follow one of the tips of Lyalya Garbuz and make your first thoughtful children's photo shoot. Use one of ten ideas to get better quality pictures than those in your family photo album.

Why, when we show plump photo albums of our child to friends or relatives, their interest is lost already on the third page? Is there something wrong with the child? Why don't they like him? But you and I know that our baby is the best, beautiful, talented ... in general, the very best! Or maybe it's the photos themselves?

So here are ten tips for capturing your toddler in a variety of situations. Maybe you will recognize your previous mistakes and next time your photos will be more interesting.

Filming for the game

What could be more beautiful than a child who loves to play? But, here's the bad luck, in the pictures you get either the back, or the crown, or even the back of the fidget's head, and you can’t even make out what he is playing there. Familiar situation? Let's fix it.

Think about the fact that you are not only a photographer, but also a director. Therefore, offer your child your own rules of the game. Not all games are equally good for shooting. If only because it is very difficult to focus on a running and jumping child, and calm drawing threatens that in the frame, in addition to pencils and paper, there will be only the hair of a young creator. What to do?

First, take your dad, grandmother, or someone else as an assistant, who will not only play with the child, but also make sure that he is well positioned in relation to the camera, and also not dirty, sweaty, disheveled. .. The kid will definitely not be up to his own appearance.

Second, choose a game. A ball game is fine. At the same time, the kid stands still and catches the ball thrown by the adult. Looks funny variant hide-and-seek, codenamed "ku-ku". The kid hides from an adult behind a tree (wall, closet), periodically looking out with a perky "cuckoo". By the way, your assistant should be located as close as possible to you.

Of course, quiet games are also suitable for shooting. But in order to make a good shot, you have to constantly tear your baby away from an exciting activity. He must be looking at you! And drawing or designers require care.

If you want to just be a "paparazzi" and take pictures of the baby at his everyday games, try to take pictures from the level of his eyes and not distract the child too much.

Photographing at home

I must admit that most often you have to take pictures at home. Did you know that these are almost the most difficult conditions for photographing children? It doesn't matter if you own an expensive DSLR or a simple compact, you will still face the same problems, which, by the way, can be solved. As a rule, home photos are taken with a flash. But in vain, because the light from the built-in flash completely kills the volume, texture of the skin, overexposes the forehead or nose, causes "red-eye", and simply makes the picture everyday and uninteresting. Try to give up this "useful" function in the camera and you will see how much more interesting portraits of your baby will look.

Does the sun ever shine in your room? Excellent! It's time to take pictures! Do you have windows in your apartment? Even in cloudy weather, there is amazing light near the window. Just invite the child to play on the windowsill. You ask, how to be in winter, when it gets dark at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the light bulb is constantly on in the room? Get more light bulbs! Desktop, sconces, do not forget to turn on the overhead light - everything will fit, and the more powerful, the better! Just remember to switch the white balance to incandescent mode and raise the sensitivity to ISO 800 just in case.

What if it's still dark?

But what if there is no way to increase the amount of light? We'll have to turn to the camera itself for help. Do not zoom out or bring the camera too close to a child. It is better to capture the excess in the frame, then you can always crop it. Put your camera in shutter priority mode, if available. In some, it is marked with the letters Tv, in some - S. The child is a moving creature, so the shutter speed (that is, the time until the shutter is open) should be no longer than 1/30 of a second. And the more mobile the child, the shorter the shutter speed.

The sensitivity should be quite high: 400, 800 or even higher. Yes, because of the high sensitivity, unpleasant artifacts in the form of “noise” appear in the picture, but this is better than smeared surrealism instead of a playing child.

In addition, it would be better if you put the camera in continuous shooting mode and click in series. Already a couple of shots from the series will definitely be sharp.

As for the built-in flash, you can turn it on only if you want to take not a picture, but documentary evidence of your child's pranks. In this case, we are not talking about the artistry of photography. And one more thing: the lighter the baby's clothes, the better.

In the bright sun

Sometimes it’s worth turning a familiar walk into an exciting photo session by taking a camera with you. A sunny day (evening or morning is better) is perfect for shooting. The only thing that should not be forgotten is the black shadows on the opposite side from the sun. We were taught from childhood that you can’t shoot against the sun. It is quite possible that this rule arose from the natural frugality of our ancestors: in 9 cases out of 10, a person shot against the sun turned into a black silhouette ... The frame was rejected, but it was a pity for the film ... However, there was one more case when a surprisingly unusual photograph came out . You can, for example, remember that your camera has a "harmful" flash. It will illuminate the face, and the gentle curls on the head of your baby will glow in the sun. By the way, a rare case when it is really needed!

You can come up with something more complicated. For example, take a piece of foil with you and, reflecting the sun's rays, highlight the shadows on the child's face.

I do not urge to shoot only against the sun, let the baby spin as he wants and play for his own pleasure: your task is not to lose his face from the frame and remember that the details in the shadows should be highlighted.

Portrait with parents

If you are thinking of a self-portrait, a mirror will be the best helper. Position yourself in front of him so that you can see how you are filming a child at play. The more natural the situation looks, the better. You can do without it by setting the camera on a 10-second timer and jump to the baby in time, but here you risk not only getting an unnatural plot, but also losing one of the models altogether. During this time, the child will have time to run to the kitchen itself.

I recommend taking pictures of yourself with outstretched hands only if you have a good sense of humor, and you are not ashamed to show your friends two heavily distorted faces. The fact is that from such a close distance, both of you will fit into the frame only if the camera is at minimum zoom. In this zoom position, everything that is close to the camera becomes exaggeratedly large compared to what is further away. Do you want an example? Look at the samovar!

As for portraits with grandparents and other relatives, there is nothing worse than a staged photo with a child in her arms against the backdrop of a carpet. Let grandma sit on the floor. Let the granddaughter throw the granddaughter high, high (and not forget to catch it!), let the dad make a stupid grimace for his daughter! Feel free to take pictures of life, then, looking at these photos, you will get a lot of positive emotions.

water games

Babies love to swim. What a great way to play in the water! You must remember: the more emotions, the more interesting the pictures. The owners of compacts in this case will be luckier than those who have a DSLR, simply because a waterproof case for a compact costs nothing, but with a SLR camera in this regard it is more difficult.

Why do we need a cover? Not only in order to protect the camera from splashes - and where without them, this is the most beautiful (of course, after your child) - but also in order to shoot a splashing fidget, you could lower the camera into the water. The highest class is to capture the moment when half of the frame is in the water and the other half is on land. Although, there will be a lot of duplicates.

If you are filming a child with someone else, just ask them to play while you walk around and click. It's in circles. Don't stand still for a second. So you can choose the most interesting angle. If there is no one to help, you will have to take the blow. Have your child spray you from head to toe. He will do it with great pleasure. And don't forget to douse it back. Never stop filming, of course!

First ever photo shoot

Everything we have talked about so far applies to fairly mature babies from a year old and up. But what about the crumbs? They grow so fast and change every day.

Don't be afraid to photograph them from day one. As we've said before, it's best to ditch the flash. Not even because a sharp, sudden light can scare a baby, but because the result will leave much to be desired. Therefore, try to use only natural light.

Babies up to two months sleep a lot, which we will take advantage of, remembering the masterpieces of Anna Geddes. It is important not to forget that each frame must be thought out. Few people will be interested in a child taken through the bars of a bed, but if you put him on a green blanket and put a hat with caterpillar horns on his head, that's a completely different matter. Remember that everything depends on your imagination. Come up with interesting stories, sew or buy costumes and props. And take advantage of the fact that your charm still does not know how to run away from you.

If the baby does not sleep, he should be in a good mood: dry, well-fed, well-rested and healthy. If things aren't going the way you want them to, put off the shoot for a couple of hours or even a day. The mood of the model is the law.

Poses for shooting

Who said that a good photographer has no templates? They are, just a lot of them. One example of a template is the poses for shooting. Those that are best suited for the first year of life. So, from the very beginning.

Babies up to one and a half to two months: of course, lying down, but not from above, as we used to photograph, but from eye level. Or in the arms of mom or dad. You can remove the face of the baby, peeking out from behind his mother's shoulder, from behind.

From two to five months: at this age, the baby already holds his head well and even tries to get up on all fours, and therefore put him on his tummy, and lie down in front of him and show him something interesting. The sitting position is just as good, only the child must have something in his hands, otherwise the fidget will not even let you focus.

Six to nine months: The baby cheerfully crawls on all fours and even gets up on his feet. This is what we will photograph, not forgetting to lie down on the floor.

Ten months and older: the baby stands confidently or runs, and we still take the knee-elbow position with the camera and try to catch up with the fleeing child.

As you have already noticed, almost always we lean as low as possible, so that the shooting point is no higher than the child, but there is an exception. If the child is sitting still and doing something, you can call him, so that he raises his head and looks at you, and take a picture from above. In this case, it is very important that there are no unnecessary objects around the baby. Only what fits the idea of ​​the frame.

Details are important too

With what surprise in a year or two you will look at the old sandals of your beloved. How small he was! All this can be reflected in the photo, if you pay attention to the details. For example, take a picture of a tiny foot in daddy's palms. Or tender fingers grasping your finger or something else, the size of which you know well. More attention to detail - then you will have something to remember. And in general, such pictures look very touching.

Posing?

All children are different: someone can fiddle with a toy for hours, and it is not easy for someone to sit for even a minute. But this does not mean that the second case is hopeless for shooting. Quite the opposite! The livelier and more active the child, the richer his facial expressions, the more interesting the pictures will be. And in no case do not force the baby to pose for you. At best, you will get dead shots with a stony expression, and at worst, your little model's persistent aversion to photography. Play, have fun, have fun, and who knows, maybe photography will become not only your hobby, but also your kid's favorite pastime.

Do you want to learn how to photograph your little ones? Sign up for the online course Lyali Garbuz today!

Discussion

We can do everything))

Greetings. My son is 6 months old, very cute and photogenic toddler. Very light skin, gray eyes, mouth constantly open - smile) ... we will be glad to accept any offer

Wonderful photos of Lyalya Garbuz in the illustrations for the article!

Comment on the article "How to photograph children. Ten tips from a professional"

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