How to take better photos of young children|Family Photographer Pretoria

I take photos of children almost daily. It can definitely be challenging at times – getting 2 toddlers and a baby in one photo…looking like the actually wanted to be in the photo in the first place!
However, I still find that much easier than taking good photos of my own young kids. They never sit still long enough, rock fake smiles easily and in general just don’t co-operate! Unless…I make them do what they naturally love!

Here are 7 tips for taking better photos of the little ones in your life:

1. Be lighting fast
   You want to catch that smile or moment the moment it happens. 5 seconds later is often too late for the authentic belly laugh or naughty twinkle in their eyes.
   
2. Go down to their level
   See the world from their perspective instead of towering above them. It makes all the difference!
   
3. Get close
   Walk a little closer and capture more details. Specially if you are taking a photo with your phone, cropping later will cause you to loose a lot of quality.
   
4. Take lots of photos
   If your baby boy is running around, put your camera or phone on ‘burst’ mode and take lots of photos in a row. Afterwards, pick your favourites and delete the rest. You will almost surely end up with a few good ones!
   
5. Light
   If it’s not action photos, and you have some control over where your beautifully dressed ballerina can stand – look for lots of light. If you are outside in the middle of the day solid shade usually works better than harsh sunlight. Inside – pick a spot close to a window or door!
   
6. Background
   When looking back at photos of my family over the years, I’ve noticed that I love photos that give context to a moment. Every now and again, step back and include lots of good background in your photos. Kids playing with your house in the background, or riding their bikes down the street – take a photo showing the whole street not just the close up ones. This is wonderful tool to help tell a story…
   
7. And lastly – make sure your are in some photos as well!! This is very important – maybe not to you, but it will definitely be to your children one day. Ask anyone around to capture a special moment for you, you will ALWAYS be glad you did so.
   
   And don’t forget to spoil yourself by booking a family photo session regularly. Beautiful family photos are an investment for the future. The saying goes – time goes fast! And it’s 100% true.

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