Top Tips For Achieving Great
Children's Photographs
Article Source: www.articlecube.com
In my work as a pro photographer I would
guess that a good 70% of my images are of
children. As a result I have discovered
various methods of achieving the completely
natural images that people love. There are
many things to remember when trying to capture
children’s images. There are some methods
that work and some that don’t, here are
a few hints that I have learned along the
way.
Don’t rush into things.
Children can be very shy at first and it
takes a real skill to get a child’s trust
in a short period of time. I have an advantage
over studio photographers in that I regularly
shoot out doors (about 95% of the time).
This means I can often meet the children
at there home or a place familiar to them
which makes it easier for the child to be
relaxed. Having arrived at the location
I set about gaining the child’s trust and
breaking down the shy barriers. This is
essential if I want to capture the completely
natural images I have made my name on. I
never take the camera equipment in to the
house straight away. I’ll leave it in the
car until I feel the child is ready. This
also helps the parents to settle down. Its
important to realise each little one is
an individual and as such there is no hard
and fast rule of how to treat any of them.
Timing
Not only is your timing of each shot vital
but also the time of the day. Children normally
run on a routine that involves sleep, food,
drink and play. If you schedule the shoot
to take place in anything other than a child’s
natural play time you are asking for trouble.
It should be fun for all involved.
If you want to capture natural expressions
of joy (and who wouldn’t) then the only
way to achieve this is to make it fun. Depending
on the age group the way this can be achieved
differs but the basic guideline is, you
play by their rules. Find something that
would entertain them. For example for 0-4
year olds can be easily distracted with
a bubble machine. For over 4’s perhaps a
kite or remote control car something that
is both colourful and enjoyable. What you
are aiming to achieve is a happy child who
soon forgets about the camera and really
is having great fun.
Don’t force things
As any parent will tell you trying to get
a child to do something they don’t want
to do is as close to impossible as things
get. You can guarantee tantrums and tears
follow if a child is forced into doing something
they’ve decided they don’t want too. The
trick is to get them to want to do whatever
it may be. Constant praise is all that should
come from the photographer on how well they
are doing. When I’m photographing children
and for whatever reason they decide that
they’re not going to lie down / kneel or
even stand I try once and then move on to
something else. Ten or twenty minutes later
I’ll come back to the original pose and
try it again, nine times out of ten this
will succeed as the child has forgotten
about not wanting to do whatever it was
and we get the shot. As is mentioned before,
you’re playing by their rules.
Be prepared
You never know what each second holds when
photographing children especially when you’re
outside. Many things can make fantastic
photographs, throwing stones into a lake,
patting a dog, throwing leaves all this
and more. If you switch your camera off
and put your lens cap on it’s a sure way
to miss fantastic unscripted moments.
I hope these points have made sense and
will help you next time you take on the
challenge of photographing children. I wish
you fantastic luck.
Martin Wilmott is a highly successful lifestyle
photographer based in the UK who undertakes
work all over the world. People with an
interest in portrait photography are encouraged
to sign up for his free online course at
http://www.martinwilmottphotography.com/.
Martin also runs regular portrait classes
for people with an interest in his style
of work.
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