San Jose Photographers – Taking Good Photos

If you want to improve your pictures of children, here are a few tips and tricks that will help you get children pictures truly worth framing.

Usually the best pictures of children tend to be candid photos, but if you are taking a formal portrait, always practice with your camera first so you’re ready.

When taking candid pictures of children outside, use an optical zoom or a telephone lens for best results. This allows you to fade a bit into the background. The more obvious you and the camera are, the more apt the children will ham it up or freeze and the less likely you will capture natural expressions. And you will need to be patient. Let them get used to you being there with your camera. Eventually they will relax.

Focus on the Subject in the Picture. The most interesting pictures focus on the subject rather than trying to get everything nearby into the shot.

When taking pictures of children outside, it’s best to use “sports” mode or select a high shutter speed like 1/500 and a wide aperture. The larger aperture will blur the background when photographing from about 10 feet away from the child. You can also do this with portrait mode, but the great part of using manual settings is you can blur the background and freeze the action.

If your camera has burst mode, this is also a good one to use with active kids. Burst mode will take several pictures in rapid succession, so you can later choose your favorite.

If you’re taking pictures inside and have good indirect light, use your camera without a flash to avoid distracting the children.

Be especially carefully when using a flash when you’re photographing babies. Before using flash with anyone, consult your camera’s manual for the maximum safe distance. With many cameras it will be at least three feet.

One of the best ways to pose a baby is in the parents arms. When posing children, always put safety first. When photographing a child and parent, show relationship by having them look at each other or at the same thing. To get baby to look in the same direction as the parent, shake a gentle noisemaker like a bean bag or small rattle.

When photographing toddlers, be ready to work fast. Take lots of pictures, so you’ll be sure to get some really good ones.

One of the very best ways to photograph a child of any age is to wait for when the child is engrossed in something that is really interesting to him or her and then shoot away.

Always focus on getting pictures of the baby “firsts” like the first step, first birthday, bike ride and all of the other important moments.

Finally, before taking a picture of someone else’s child, unless the child is in public in a group, like marching in a parade, ask the parent for permission. It’s legal to take pictures of people, including kids, without permission, but put yourself in the parent’s shoes. Most parents would prefer being asked.

Preschool age children can be quite cute when interacting with other kids their age. Look for those buddy photo ops like when two little ones are holding hands or helping each other with a task.

As you can see taking better pictures of children isn’t really complicated but it does require some time and forethought.

San Jose Photographer – Benipayo Photography

Contact: Michael at michael@benipayo.com

If you are interested having a portrait session with me -

408-717-3670     415-763-7643

Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames and loves photo frames. Shop online and see our large selection of picture frames in a wide variety of styles, colors and sizes like our popular 5×7 picture frames.

Technorati Tags: Pictures,Children,Take,Jose,Photographers,tips,tricks,worth,portrait,results,background,expressions,Focus,Subject,Picture,sports,mode,aperture,action,kids,Burst,succession,babies,parent,relationship,direction,bike,permission,Most,Preschool,Look,buddy,photo,task,forethought,Photographer,Benipayo,Photography,Contact,Michael,session,Autumn,Lockwood,writer,Shop,selection,Photos,feet,toddlers,moments,sizes,camera,parents,ones

WordPress Tags: Pictures,Children,Take,Jose,Photographers,tips,tricks,worth,portrait,results,background,expressions,Focus,Subject,Picture,sports,mode,aperture,action,kids,Burst,succession,babies,parent,relationship,direction,bike,permission,Most,Preschool,Look,buddy,photo,task,forethought,Photographer,Benipayo,Photography,Contact,Michael,session,Autumn,Lockwood,writer,Shop,selection,Photos,feet,toddlers,moments,sizes,camera,parents,ones