Taking photos of children can be a delight. These photos look great, and can provoke a great deal of emotion, for many years afterwards. However, taking such photos can sometimes be a challenge and tips on how to take better photos can be very valuable. If you feel that something is not covered in this series, then please do mention these in the comments.
Tip 1121 (Get kids to go to a playing area): Now, the exact location can depend on the age of these children. If these are very young children, then they should be taken to a playing arena (you know those places where the kids can enjoy small slides, some kind of buggies, some bouncing around, and a number of small balls), and if these children are slightly older, then to a playground. When children are playing, there is a certain quality of happiness that can be seen, and capturing those through photographs can provide some great photos.
Tip 1122 (Do framing properly, and if required, crop): When you are taking photos of children, then it is essential that you keep the photo focused with the composition on children. Unless you are intending to use some prop in the photo, keep such props out of the photo and keep it focused on the children. If you have already shot the photo and there are some extraneous objects in the photo, then crop those out of the photo.
Tip 1123 (Keep a minimum amount of equipment): When you are dealing with children, then you need to be quick and agile, and that means that you really cannot afford to have a lot of equipment that needs to be moved around. Consider that you have set up some great lighting with some other props, and the young children just refuse to go there. You need to take a photo where the children are rather than trying to get them where the setting is. This also means that unless you have children who are willing to pose, you need a lens that can cover a number of situations, so choose wisely. I use a 18-135 lens that works well.
Tip 1124 (You may need to stoop to conquer): In most cases, you will be much taller than the kids whose photos you are taking. If you take photos from your height, then the photos will seem to come from an overhead angle. However, if you stoop or bend such that you are the same height level as the children, you get their attention and your photos also seem to get better.
Tip 1125 (For infants, catch their attention): Babies come out best in photos when they are looking at the camera. Since their eyes are proportionally bigger than adults, having them look at the camera with eyes fully open gives a great look. But this is easier said than done. What you could do to catch their attention (although getting their attention does not last too long, so you need to take photos quickly) is to clap or snap your fingers, some sudden sound that catches their attention. Of course, this only works as long as it seems novel, so change the attention grabbing event if you need to do it multiple times.
Some books on how to improve your photos (from Amazon):
Beyond Snapshots: How to Take That Fancy DSLR Camera Off “Auto”
Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parents’ Guide
500 Poses for Photographing Children
Videos of how to take photos of children from Youtube:
Baby Photography Tutorial & Tips – Ideas for Photographing Children
Taking photos of children can be a delight. These photos look great, and can provoke a great deal of emotion, for many years afterwards. However, taking such photos can sometimes be a challenge and tips on how to take better photos can be very valuable. If you feel that something is not covered in this series, then please do mention these in the comments.
Tip 1116 (Look for colorful clothes of children): One way to get very colorful photos is when you have got children wearing different types of colorful clothes. Colorful clothes look well on children, and the photos that come out of such compositions also come out pretty well. Of course, this is only possible when you have the opportunity to be able to get children to pose and the time for them to prepare.
Tip 1117 (See photos as a life history): Photos of children provide a historical marker to the parents and other relatives of the children. If you are taking photos of your children or children of close friends / family members, then it is good to take such photos at regular periods of time, since these provide a timeline of the development of children. When the children have grown up, these photos provide a history of how the children have grown up. For example, a photo such as children getting ready to go to the first day of school, or after an important event or at birthdays, etc, all of these provide deep emotional reminders when seen later.
Tip 1118 (Make sure you get permissions): Parents tend to get very protective of children, and if you are in an environment where you have not been requested to take photos, be careful about your overall environment. So for example, it would be fine to take photos of children when they are playing in a school match, but parents would be very careful about letting a photographer take photos when children are in the swimming pool. As a matter of safety and overall good policy, it would be good to try and ask for permission before shooting photos of children (especially in an environment where you think parents would like you to ask for permission).
Tip 1119 (Take photos of children in their natural environment): Children are most comfortable in their natural settings. So, whether this be their home, with their favorite toys, or in the car of their parents, that is when they are most comfortable. If a child is in a new setting, there is a high degree of risk that the child may be uncomfortable and then it is not likely that the photo session will not work out the way that you want them to. So, if you are shooting at a place which is not their home, then try and ensure that a favorite toy is near, or that a family member is nearby.
Tip 1120 (Keep sessions short and sweet): When you are shooting photo sessions with kids, remember that these need to be kept short. Planning for such photo sessions should ensure that you are planning shorter sessions, since kids have much shorter attention spans. Even if you try to stretch a session, it really would not work since you would find uncooperative kids who are not conducive to any kind of encouragement.
Some books on how to improve your photos (from Amazon):
Beyond Snapshots: How to Take That Fancy DSLR Camera Off “Auto”
Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parents’ Guide
500 Poses for Photographing Children
Videos of how to take photos of children from Youtube:
Baby Photography Tutorial & Tips – Ideas for Photographing Children
Taking photos of children can be a delight. These photos look great, and can provoke a great deal of emotion, for many years afterwards. However, taking such photos can sometimes be a challenge and tips on how to take better photos can be very valuable. If you feel that something is not covered in this series, then please do mention these in the comments.
Tip 1111 (Children tend to look cute, especially when they are doing something): Unlike shooting adults where you need to stage the photos, move the people into a proper position for taking photos and trying your best to ensure that people come out looking well, shooting photos of children (especially those under the age of 5-6 years) in a way that they look nice is fairly easy. Except for certain times when children are grumpy or sometimes when they are sleeping, photos of children typically come out much cuter and better. This is a huge advantage when shooting photos of children (and have you ever heard an adult ever criticize a photo in which a child is there ?).
Tip 1112 (Kids can be easily distracted): If you have been shooting adults, you would not be able to easily understand the difference when it comes to shooting children. Adults will pose for as long as you want them to (of course, withing reasonable limits), they will turn and pose in whatever way you want them to; but when it comes to children, this is certainly not true. If you expect kids to make elaborate poses, or to hold them for long periods of time (or if there are multiple children, if you expect all of them to behave in a similar way), then it will certainly not happen and can be very frustrating. You need to be prepared for this, and set poses which you believe are realistic.
Tip 1113 (Look to the oldest child for support): Children typically tend to follow the advice of an older child more easily than that of an adult, and in case you are not known to the children, it can be more difficult to get them to follow you. In some cases, you will find children who are old enough to understand what you want. Also, it gives the older child a good feeling if they feel that you are trusting them to help you, and it increases the chance of getting the cooperation of other children whom you want in the photo.
Tip 1114 (Spend some time with the children and get them more comfortable with you): When you desire to take some good photos of children, it really helps if you spend time with the children, play with them, speak to them. This helps you in developing some amount of bonding with the children, which will help you in getting better photos, photos where the children look more active and happy.
Tip 1115 (Capture candid photos of the children): Taking candid photos of children sometimes is the best possible approach. if you are on the lookout for candid, real moments, many of those photos come out pretty well (remember, this is true for children; for adults, such candid photos may not come out as well). Since children do not really do posing, such candid photos capturing their actual emotions and physical movements come out nicely.
Some books on how to improve your photos (from Amazon):
Beyond Snapshots: How to Take That Fancy DSLR Camera Off “Auto”
Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parents’ Guide
500 Poses for Photographing Children
Videos of how to take photos of children from Youtube:
Baby Photography Tutorial & Tips – Ideas for Photographing Children
Tip 1106 (Getting both foreground and background (moon)): Many times you would have seen a photo where both the background (the bright moon) and the foreground are clear enough in the photo. Now, when you normally shoot the moon and want the details of the moon, you focus on the moon and get details of the moon. However, if at the same time you want details of the foreground in the same photo, it is pretty difficult. Because of light differences, the foreground (say the trees of a forest or the buildings in a city) would then seem very black. I have mentioned previously about taking multiple photos and combining them, and this is what is needed to be done in this case. From the exact same location, and with the same composition, you need to take 2 separate photos at different exposure levels. One photo should capture the foreground, in a way that the details of the foreground are visible, although in such a way, the moon will really not be visible. The other photo should be taken in such a way that the details of the moon are visible, which means that the foreground and almost everything else in the photo will be darkened out. Now, what needs to be done is to combine these photos in a photo editing tool such as Photoshop, using proper masking and combining techniques.
Tip 1107 (Learn about using objects other than a tripod for stability): This is another one of those generic tips that can be used for all purpose photography rather than only for moon photography. When you are looking for a stable surface, then even if you don’t have a tripod, do not despair. Remember the basic objective is to ensure that your camera is held in a stable position. I have used many surfaces for this kind of objective. You can place your camera on a vehicle, place it on a rock, place it on the camera bag itself (you need to push it a bit firmly for the camera to settle in a position where it will not move). Never let yourselves be stuck just because you don’t have a tripod with you. I once was in a party and saw some great fireworks, and was not carrying a tripod. There was a thick bush, and with the use of a piece of cloth, I managed to stabilize the camera on top of the bush such that a stable photo could be clicked.
Tip 1108 (Try to use the moon as a stage): Exposure to Flickr and Facebook has shown an incredible variety of photos, many of them incredible. I was looking at some great photos where people have tried to use the moon as a prop in their photos and these look great. Take a look at some of these (Image 1, Image 2, Image 3). Don’t just shoot photos of the moon, experiment and try out different stuff. Some of these photos will come out great, leaving you proud.
Tip 1109 (Try experimenting with the photo): In an earlier tip, I had mentioned to try and convert the image to a Black & White version. However, this is not the only thing you can do. You should try and experiment with different settings such as sepia, different colors, see the one which brings out a different touch to the photo. Also, software editing programs such as Photoshop give you a wide variety of optimizations such as sharpening, adjusting levels, etc. You might find that some of these settings improve your photos to a large degree.
Tip 1110 (Use the moon shots in other locations): This is strictly not a tip for shooting photos of the moon. But if you have some great shots of the moon, then keep the photo handy to fit it into other photos. Suppose you have a great photo of the city skyline, but were not in a position to get the moon properly; consider merging the moon photo from another shot into the photo of the skyline and see whether the photo comes out properly.
Some great books and a filter (from Amazon):
The Digital Photography Book
Night and Low-Light Photography Photo Workshop
1.25″ Orion 13% Transmission Moon Filter
Videos from Youtube on shooting the moon:
Shooting the moon Part 1
Shooting the moon part 2
How to Photograph the Moon, tutorial for video and still images
Tip 1101 (The moon is dimmer when it is lower in the horizon): This is a fact that you need to keep in mind. Shooting the moon means that you need to be aware of the dynamics of the moon movement as well as the light emitted (okay, actually reflected) by the moon. When the moon is lower in the horizon, typically near evening or the morning, the amount of light shining from the moon is lower than when the moon is higher up in the sky. One of the reasons for this is because the light from the moon has to pass through a longer stretch of the atmosphere to get to the camera and that dims the light more.
Tip 1102 (Mirror lock): If your camera allows you to lock up the mirror, you should do the same. The mirror lock up allows for reduction of another risk item in the camera, the risk being that of a small amount of vibration in the camera.
Tip 1103 (Ensure batteries are fully charged / have additional batteries): When you are doing night photography (not specifically moon photography), you might end up doing long exposures, and in such cases, you should ensure that your batteries are fully charged. If you have additional batteries, then ensure that you have these with you and also charged fully (even if you do not really need them in the end, they give you an additional level of assurance).
Tip 1104 (Try to use manual exposure rather than use auto-exposure): You may have done a lot of photography in the past using auto-exposure (and no matter what the purists say, you can still get some fairly good photos when the light levels are good by keeping the exposure metering as automatic rather than using some of the manual modes). If you use automatic metering and let the camera set the exposure, it will try and balance the scene in front (and these are 2 very dramatic different light levels – with the moon being bright and the rest of the night sky being dark); in most of the cases, you will find that the exposure level set by the camera using the automatic method will lead to the moon being over-exposed and hence totally blotting out the details on the moon.
Tip 1105 (Use sharpening in software, but comes with a cost): Sometimes you can see photos that are very sharp, and wonder why your photo is not looking as sharp as those photos. Well, I can’t promise that your photos will look pin-sharp, but here is a tool that allows your photos to become somewhat sharper. I normally don’t use in-camera sharpening (since that leaves the calibration of the sharpening to be decided by the camera), and instead do the sharpening through software (remember previous tips ? I typically end up using Photoshop or Lightroom for my photos – get them from Amazon (Photoshop, or Lightroom). However, sharpening is like ISO, there is a cost associated. You should ideally do sharpening once and then leave it like that, if you do excessive sharpening, your photos ends up looking weird (and the big problem is that you are doing sharpening and typically accept the results, while somebody else seeing the photo immediately realizes that there is something wrong).
Some great books and a filter (from Amazon):
The Digital Photography Book
Night and Low-Light Photography Photo Workshop
1.25″ Orion 13% Transmission Moon Filter
Videos from Youtube on shooting the moon:
Shooting the moon Part 1
Shooting the moon part 2
How to Photograph the Moon, tutorial for video and still images
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