Tip Box
Tip 1:
Use a Zoom Lens.
Shooting with a high quality zoom lens has a number of advantages. When you photograph children, you never know when a special moment will happen, and a zoom lens allows you to quickly adjust the focal length so that you can catch moments when they happen (even if the subject is not right in front of you). Another reason to choose zoom lenses is convenience. By not having to change lenses, you can just grab your camera and go, without having to pack additional lenses, or change lenses, which can introduce dust into your camera and onto your camera’s sensor.
Tip 2:
Use Selective Depth of Field and a Wide-Angle Lens for Portraits.
Traditionally, wide-angle lenses are not advised for most portraits because they are not flattering to most faces, but in some cases, they can add drama to a photograph–especially when photographing kids. I photographed the girl holding some plants and flowers with a Tamron 17-50mm at F/7.1 at 1/500 sec. and ISO 400 (18mm focal length). Her hands help to frame her face, and the wide-angle lens gives the image a look that’s both fun and “real.” I also used spot focusing for this shot so that I could pinpoint the area I wanted to focus on. The bright viewfinder image and minimum focus distance of just 10.6 inches of the Tamron 17-50mm lens made it easy to get the framing and effect I wanted.
Tip 3:
Use Natural Light and Fill Flash When Necessary.
The sun offers a tremendous variety of light, and with a little knowledge of lighting, you can make the most of almost any situation. Generally, the best times of the day to take photographs in many parts of the world are between 8am-11am and 3pm-6pm. However, if it is sunny outside, and you are taking pictures in the middle of the day, open shade can help save the day. An example of open shade is the light you often find under a large tree or in the shade next to a building on a sunny day. If you face your subject toward the sky while in open shade, that can help to create natural, directional lighting, as well as catchlights in the eyes.
In some cases, fill flash can really help to fill in shadows and avoid “raccoon eyes” (especially around midday). Many DSLRs have good-quality pop-up flashes that can be set to auto fill flash so your photos look more natural when you use the flash (not overexposed).
Tip 4:
Control Your ISO and F-stop to Freeze Motion.
Virtually every Digital SLR made in the last few years can produce images with low noise (known as “grain” in film and film-based prints), even at higher ISOs (ISO 400-1600). This opens up many creative options when photographing children. An example of this is in the image below. This photo of the girl jumping in the rain was photographed with the Tamron 17-50mm Di-II at F/2.8 and1/320 sec. at ISO 800 (17mm focal length). The wide open F/2.8 aperture combined with ISO 800 allowed me to freeze the action and get the shot.
Because I knew that I needed about a 1/320 sec. or faster shutter speed to freeze the action, I used the Manual exposure mode (setting the camera dial to M) to achieve the right combination of settings. I also knew that if the girl was going to be moving, my exposure meter would not be accurate. By experimenting with different shutter speeds, F-stops and ISOs in manual mode (and using your digital camera’s histogram and LCD screen), you will quickly discover what settings work best when you want to photograph kids in action.
Tip 5:
Shoot Under “the Elements”.
Most people tend to take their cameras inside as soon as the rain or snow starts falling. However, especially with kids and families, you can capture great emotions if you shoot in the rain or snow. Misty conditions also produce a nice flat light that makes skin tones look great.
Two examples of photos taken during light rain are the image above and the one below. Of course, you will want to protect your camera when the rain or snow really starts falling. To do that, you can put your camera in a plastic bag and make a hole for the lens, or you can have a friend or assistant hold an umbrella over you.
Tip 6:
Convert to Black and White.
Photos (especially images of children) can look better in black and white, or sepia-toned. I recommend always shooting in your digital camera’s color mode so that you have the ability to use the photo in color or black and white. I use Adobe Photoshop CS3 for most of my editing and toning, and there are many applications available that will do a good job of converting from color to black and white. In the case of the above image, a few things contributed to my decision to convert the image to black and white. I shot the photo with the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di at F/6.3 at 1/640 sec. (22mm focal length), and the first thing that made me think about converting the image was the sky, which was gray and overcast.
By converting to black and white, gray skies blend in better, and the image becomes more about the subject matter. Two more reasons for converting the image were that the boy was wearing an orange shirt and the umbrella was bright blue, which made for a distracting combination of color. If you look through your collection of photographs, you will probably find a number of photos that are great candidates for black and white, and if you know in advance that you want to make black and white images, you can dress your subjects in clothing that will convert well from color to black and white.
Tip 7:
Use Selective Blur.
Sometimes images look better when they are edited to create a selective blur effect. In the image from tip 5 the foreground and background were much sharper in the original image, so I used Photoshop’s Gaussian Blur filter to give the image a selective focus feel.
Tip 8:
Crop For Added Effect.
I generally recommend filling the frame with your subject when shooting, but sometimes cropping can have a dramatic effect. This is especially true when you crop the traditionally rectangular images that come from most digital cameras to a square format for use in books, cards or in digital slide shows.
Tip 9:
Use Motion (Drag the Shutter).
Kids are active by nature, and by capturing a sense of movement you can create captivating images. One of my favorite techniques is to “drag the shutter,” or allow it to be open for longer than about 1/10 sec. This can be done while the subject is in motion (called panning), or when you are in motion with the subject, as shown in the image below. In this image, I’m sitting on a tire swing with the girl and shooting as we are moving. Because we are moving at the same speed and in the same direction, the girl is sharp, but the background looks like we are moving extremely fast.
Like in Tip 4, I used Manual exposure mode (setting the camera dial to M) to get the right combination of shutter speed, F-stop and ISO, however, I could have used Shutter Priority mode (camera dial set on “S” or “Tv”) set to about 1/30 or 1/4 second. If images were too dark at that setting, I would then increase my shutter speed and/or my ISO until I achieved a good exposure. This particular image was shot at F/22 and 1/30 sec. with the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens.
Tip 10:
Change Your Perspective.
By getting on the same level as your subject (or even lower), you can create more dynamic images. Almost all of the images in this article were shot at or below the child’s eye level, which makes them the “star.” In some cases, shooting from a higher level also works well, so I recommend taking photos from a few different perspectives whenever possible. In the case of the image below, I not only photographed the girl from a higher vantage point, I also cropped the image in a non-traditional way. By experimenting with in-camera cropping, you can end up with many more interesting photos, and a zoom lens can make this much easier.
