Taking Pictures of the kids

Truth is, I don't just photograph animals.  I do photograph people as well, and I especially love to take pictures of kids.

Kids can be a tough nut to crack.  In fact, when I first started to experiment with taking photos of children, I fell into the old traps of taking pictures in general.  You know the old say-cheese-look-at-the-bird-in-the-lens mode.  I think the predictable shots that resulted from those instances certainly documented age, weight, and what was in style apparel-wise, but they did nothing for the kids in the photos.

I'm now pretty much a laissez-faire photographer when it comes to kids.  That is, whatever is happening in the scene, you go with the flow.  I really don't like the posed, smile look.  Kids can give you some pretty good facial expressions if you will just let them.

Case in point, on a visit to a local park event there were plenty of kids engaging in various activities  The best time to catch kids is when they least expect it, as in the scene below with kids resting at a picnic table. 

I  cropped this photo, cleaned some of the surrounding debris and people out of the picture and added some highlights.  I wanted to keep the photo as simple as possible and the focus on the first two children.

I used the same kind of thinking with the young lady in the photo below.  On her way to get a drink or a hot dog at the park stand with her Dad, she was oblivious to me and everything around her.  Kids make some pretty interesting faces when they are hard at work thinking.

Other examples of capturing kids include the ones below, all taken at the park.  In all cases none of the children are looking at the camera.  I am trying to capture normal, every day occurrences that everyone can relate to.  A child trying to run away to something she sees in the distance, a mother holding back the child, a Dad and his kids fishing.
I think if people can relate their everyday lives to what is being photographed, it makes the photo that much better.

I really like soft, morning light for photos of kids, and if it's not available, it's what I will try and duplicate in the studio.  I've seen so many studio portraits with harsh lighting, and I still don't understand why these are valued by parents.  Soft colors and soft lights bring out the fresh-faced looks and soft hair highlights of children best.

Photos are very much the product of what a photographer's eye sees as the end result of the look of the picture.  We've all seen the posed images of kids with Santa, right?  How about the image below?  It's of a friend's children done by a local photographer, and in my estimation one of the better photos of Santa and kids that I have seen. (Photo credit to Tammy Martines Photography)

Notice how none of the kids are looking directly at the camera?  And even though the primary colors are prevalent, the lighting and contrast colors make this an outstanding photo.

So here are some tips when taking photos of the kids in your life:

• Give them something to do, or let them go about their business as usual.
• Don't ask or expect them to stare into your camera directly at any time, but be ready to capture a direct hit when it becomes a part of what they are naturally doing.
• If you have a camera that allows you to change your lenses, you may want to experiement with different focal lengths and angles.  I used a 50mm 1.8 lens for my shots above, but would opt for a 17-40mm or 70-200mm for photos outdoors, or if the child isn't too keen on you being up close and personal with the camera.  If you have a point and shoot, experiment with your zoom options for different effects.
• If you have edit software, stay away from harsh edits.  Stick with soft coloring and soft lighting edits if necessary.  Hazes and mists are fine for floral arrangements, but I do not particularly like them when editing photos of children.
• Most of all, have fun, relax, and enjoy the time with the kids!