Capturing the tiny humans of today can be so fun and heartwarming, so innocent and soon to take on the world and be the leaders of the future. In this article, we will be discussing just a few tips when photographing kids to give their parents those heart-warming shots that evoke an “aw” from anyone.
Photographing kids can be a very tricky thing due to the fact that each child has his or her own personality that they are yet to understand and not sure how to control. Therefore you have to patient as if you’re a parent yourself and if you are then this should be so much easier for you because you have an idea of how to deal with kids. However, If you don’t have kids and recently got booked or asked to do a shoot consisting of kids as your subject then this article will work in your favor because you don’t really want to go there with the same attitude as if you’re shooting a model client or an adult and then have the parents regret even booking you to take photos of their child.
Doing a Photoshoot of someone’s child, in essence, are the parents trusting you enough to help capture a few memories professionally for them to share with their kids in the future. Those embarrassing pictures our parents have of us that they show the family is all with the help of a photographer and we are now a part in recreating that cycle for the generation ahead.
As innocent as they may be they can sometimes be hard to keep still or even to keep their attention for more than 5 minutes. Here are just a few tips to help your child photography session go as smooth as possible.
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I know as photographers we are usually super excited and sometimes ready to get the job done and the shoot over with. However in this case I’d highly recommend you change your approach because you don’t want to send the wrong message to the parents through your attitude, in addition when you rush your shots you often end up not getting what you had in mind to capture and to an extent end up throwing off the whole vibe of your session.
I strongly suggest you sit down and take some time to speak with your client, not the parents but your little client. Get to know the little humans a bit before you start to capture them. Speak to them and find out a few of their interest and what they like. If you still watch cartoons now and then like me, try to relate their favorite character to them or even sweets. It’s all about relating to them in a way they understand so they become more comfortable with you because keep in mind, they don’t know you so seeing a stranger with a camera in their space can often make them shy or even scared. After about 10-15 minutes of getting acquainted with them I usually slowly pull my camera out and get myself ready while conversing with them, then slowly transition into starting the shoot.
Kids love to be rewarded for something they’ve done so they feel accomplished and like their doing something right. So before you head to your shoot, In your preparations it would help to have some small prizes to award with when they do a pose or shot correct. Be sure to tell them that they get it at the end of the session so they stay focused throughout the shoot on getting their prize or you might just have some shots of them reaching to you for their reward because they felt they’re done.
In a scenario where you have super hyper kids, one of the tricks I’ve used is to carry cut out shapes of cute things they can relate to like a truck, duck or even a cartoon character. How this work is when you want them to stay in a specific spot what you do is put that cut out on the floor and tell them to keep it safe by keeping it covered.
For example putting a truck on the ground and tell them to keep your truck safe and not let anything happen to it. This has always worked for me to keep them in one position for just about the few minutes I need to catch my shots. It can also be turned into a fun kids game of “Twister” How? You put a duck in one position and a truck in another and tell them to keep the truck and the dock safe and you find where they’re having fun while you’re getting your job done. Sound pretty easy and fun right?
The parents will appreciate the time you invest in getting the right shot for them and also for yourself. If you find where you wanted a shot and it didn’t work out, don’t rush past it and forget about it. Be persistent on catching that specific shot and be patient with them, after all their kids and all kids take time.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and it’s helped you to capture some great shots with the little ones. Until next time, Thank you for reading!
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