This is probably my most asked question as a photographer, normally by frazzled parents who have had enough of blurry phone snaps that their kids hate posing for, I have lost count of the number of times I get told their kid pulls a chandler bing smile out as soon as they see the camera.
As a mum myself, I know this feeling ALL TO WELL, so I'm going to share with you few tips that I've picked up along the way to make capturing your little ones a lot easier and the photos come out (hopefully) a lot better.
1. Numero uno for a good photo, It's alllll about light, if you're indoors, try and avoid standing your child directly in front of a window, as the photo will just be a big bright light behind them and your Childs face will be dark and in the shadows, instead, have your child facing the light source (window, patio doors etc) with you (the photographers) back to the window, this will create much more flattering photos and your child's features will be properly lit.
2. Kids HATE being told what to do, they can also pick up stress and tension quicker than Cliff Richard can knock out a Christmas banger. Things I've found that have helped me are getting down to their level and engaging them by saying things like 'whats that over there?' or 'can you touch your nose' - these are some of my favourite photos as you capture them as how they are 'naturally', none of the toothy posed smiles.
3. Brush up on your toilet humour jokes, some of the biggest laughs come from poo jokes and I'm not ashamed to admit it, know your audience, if you've got younger children this is the way to go. Toddlers and babies are obviously a bit trickier, but if you can rope in an assistant, someone pretending to hit the photographer on the head goes a long way, similarly the old 'he's/she's behind you' works a treat. If all else fails, get physical, tickling is a fail safe to get a little one laughing.
4. If you are taking photos for a specific occasion, take some care in outfit choices, because if you take a gem of a photo, it's going to be displayed for years to come. When they're teenagers you don't want to be explaining your choice to pop everyone in double denim and white t-shirts every time the photo album comes out. I've found that neutrals work best and have a timeless effect in a photo, try and avoid big logos and character clothing.
5. Equipment wise, you really don't need a huge camera that your not really sure how to use to get some stunning portraits of your children. iPhones and other smart devices these days have really great cameras. One of the best tips I learnt for using my iPhone was setting the camera to 'portrait mode' bend down low so you are level with your subject and turn the phone upside down and snap your photo - It sounds crazy but it works, this really gives your photos the depth of field that makes them look 'professional'.
6. There are so many really good editing apps readily available to download for free on the App Store and google play, some of my favourites to use are Snapseed, VSCO and Lightroom CC, they're really user friendly and if you spend a little bit of time playing with the sliders you can really make your photos stand out without very much effort.
I really hope these tips are useful, happy snapping!
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