Taking photos of children?

[Crystal]

Tomorrow I am taking my 9month old and my friends 2 year old twins to the park (weather permitting) for some nice pictures.

Any tips to get some nice shots? I have a "children" setting on my camera that tracks faces... Should I use this or go manual?

[William]

If your confident of shooting Manual , Do it , Just make sure you get a high shutter speed to freeze the action , Remember to check your in camera histogram after the first shot

[mercho]

Bring Props, lots of props! Toys etc... Good luck!

[mudman]

take a roll of clear sticky tape. child portraits look good with their hands close together. wrap a bit of tape around a finger and talk to the child while shooting. they will play with the tape, which keeps their hands together, and you can get some good facial expressions too

[Crystal]

Thanks for the ideas. I had never heard of the sticky tape before... That's very clever! As for the histogram... I better go read my manual cause I still don't know where to find it! :)

[kiwi]

Please, dont shoot manual if you're a bit new

try aperture priority +1EV (can you do that) ?

make sure you keep your shutter speed over 1/200s

look for nice clean and dark backgrounds and get down to their level.

[Crystal]

Aperture priority - no worries... + 1EV- no idea what that even means! (oh no I really am a noob!)

[kiwi]

Oh, and dont use the auto face tracking crapola, choose focus and focus on the eyes.

[kiwi]

re EV comp, well, read the manual :)

.....or...just using program auto until you do

[Dwarak]

Thanks for the advice kiwi even I wanted to take pictures of my 5 month old will post soon

[yummymummy]

Darren beat me to it :) down to their level is a must, or you just end up taking snap shottish photos. ( I know, probably not even a word lmao) try and avoid the usual "cheese" to make them smile.. try using jokes or say or do something funny, you'll get a more natural smile.

[kiwi]

Best advice is just let them be kids and take candids that are constructed

[Crystal]

Thanks everyone.... Hopefully I will come up with something worth sharing

[kiwi]

Whatever the result you should share

[Mark L]

Aperture priority - no worries... + 1EV- no idea what that even means! (oh no I really am a noob!)
Aperture priority is good. Take your photos in RAW and you can adjust exposure a little later.
If you're having fun, then that rubs off on youngens (new word). So have fun.:th3:

[BabySwine]

the best way to focus on them is to centre focus on the eyes, and then lock the focus, (if you have that on your camera, it is by half pressing down the shutter button) and then realign your photo.

[tcdev]

take a roll of clear sticky tape. child portraits look good with their hands close together. wrap a bit of tape around ...
You had me a bit worried where this was going! :p

[Mark L]

How did it go Crystal?

[Crystal]

Well... It rained... So not at all! :( I'm hoping for a nice sunny day this week.

[Tarryn]

ive found that kids especially round the three to five years old bracket get scared of you once you put the big black camera in front of your face. ive had a few sessions like this, they wont look up cos they know you are following them with the black thing hehe so definately get someone else to come along to do funny things while you take photos, its distracts them. and theres always BRIBERY lol good luck on second time around!

[Redbaron]

AV mode definately the go with kids, or any portraits for that matter if you are not confident going full manual. Got some spectacular shots of my 4yo boy doing this, and hopefully will again this weekend. Love the sticky tape idea.
Enjoy

[bnkstr]

If you're shooting in a room with relatively consistent light I don't see why you shouldnt go manual. It saves a lot of time later. If they're going to be running around in and out of rooms, or there's lots of windows letting in light in only a small area or whatever then AV mode is probably the best if you're not confident of getting it right

[ricktas]

If you're shooting in a room with relatively consistent light I don't see why you shouldnt go manual. It saves a lot of time later. If they're going to be running around in and out of rooms, or there's lots of windows letting in light in only a small area or whatever then AV mode is probably the best if you're not confident of getting it right

Cause this is in the NEW TO PHOTOGRAPHY forum, and those asking are probably not at the stage of shooting in full manual. This forum is about guiding people slowly towards better photography, and therefore telling a newbie just to use manual is not helping them.

[rnicetin]

Definitely go down low. If they aren't co-operating, try taking a photo with them not in it, and showing it to them on the back of the camera. Pull a sad face and say that you can't see them, and that you need to try again. They'll generally get interested and play up a little. Just make sure you let them see the results!
Also, just a hint - try to be careful that you are just including your grandchildren in the shots. Some parents can get a little uncomfortable if they think a stranger is photographing their kids :-)

[red sand]

Love the sticky tape idea, can't wait to try it. I find making lots of noise, specially high pitched noise, makes them look at the camera. Even young babies will try to see where the noise is coming from.

[LJG]

Lying on the ground so you get down totheir level, or lower, always makes for better shots of kids. One thing I havefound, when shooting my grandson it is like he is rocket propelled. He justdoes not stay still! To do candid shots I find it better to get a distance awayand use my 70-200 rather than get in close with a shorter lens. You get abetter perspective that way and their running around does not affect the shotsas much.

[Gypsy]

Another idea for shooting kids is to always carry bubbles! You know the little bottles of bubble solution?? You can either blow bubbles yourself (or get mum/dad/helper to) and get the kids attention, or if that's not working, and they are old enough, get them to do it themselves. Kids ALWAYS love bubbles! And they can look good in photos too.
And yes, absolutely get down to their level. Don't worry too much about trying to get them to look directly at the camera and smile.... the best shots are of the kids just doing what they are doing (reading a book, playing with a ball etc). Most of the time they will then naturally look up and smile as they check out your reaction or seek your approval of what they are doing, so just be on the ball and snap away when they do!
And another thing just try to pay attention to the background. Try to avoid garbage bins, people walking their dog (who usually ends up doing a poo right as you snap the perfect picture. LOL), cars, powerlines/poles etc.

[Nic076]

Thanks everyone for sharing there are some great tips here.

[dannyz]

i keep the shutter speeds above 1/200th and lowest aperture and use my 70-300 tamron vc.. someone else to distract the littluns always helps..

[A Zed]

Dont expect to get the good shots at the start. Just interact with the kids fo ra while, the best shots always come at the end when everyone is more relaxed. Ive even had to revisit children so they are comfortable with me.

And the statement about this being a new to photography forum and not using Manual is spot on. I think a lot of people like to talk up "using manual" to make themselves sound better. Definitely go Av and the lowest number your camera will allow

[mini696]

I agree with everyong who says get on their level.

I have also found if you let the kids play with the camera it relaxes them a bit too.

My favorite way to shoot is candid, so the closest I come to posing is placing them near an object I want the child to interact with, maybe calling their name.

If you have someone else around to keep an eye on them and be close if they get in danger it lets you concentrate on taking the photos.

I use flash if they are playing in the shade.

These are typical of what I get (only small images but I hope you get the idea).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6763238713_c974803218.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763238713/)
Cousins_07 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763238713/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6763238995_76e600d469.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763238995/)
Cousins_06 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763238995/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6763239247_0d22fa3fd5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239247/)
Cousins_05 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239247/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7170/6763239375_14311c0614.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239375/)
Cousins_04 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239375/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6763239613_f461fa1417.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239613/)
Cousins_03 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239613/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6763239829_eae5c89638.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239829/)
Cousins_02 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763239829/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6763240077_f866140d33.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763240077/)
Cousins_01 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11832115@N03/6763240077/) by mini696 (http://www.flickr.com/people/11832115@N03/), on Flickr