Say Cheese (or Not!) -- Some More Tips for Photographing Your Kids

So, I posted some home photo shoot tips yesterday, but thought I would post a few more tips for photographing your children today.

I am certainly not an expert and may say things you have tried/seen/read about before. I am just using my knowledge that I gained during my 2 1/2 years of having a portrait photography business, and just about a lifetime of being a shutter bug.

So...on to a few more ideas/tips:

1. If you notice that many of your pictures start looking the same, try working from different heights. You will not see a good portrait photographer just standing in one spot, and always staying at the same height. Lay down on your belly to get to a lower level. Maybe grab a step ladder in order to have someone seated by able to look up at your just slightly.

2. Don't be afraid to sometimes pose your kids. But, likewise, don't be afraid to let them do their own thing. One of my favorite portraits of my middle son is with him with a smile so big that his eyes are almost closed and he has his tongue sticking out to one side of his mouth. Now, this is not usually my style of photograph that I enjoy. But, when I look at it, I see that it is him.

However, on that same day, I took another favorite picture of him looking deeply in thought with his gaze downward. This was very much *not* him, but I loved that I captured that moment, since he is always in motion. And -- can you believe that day produced another of my favorite pictures of him? It started to rain and, just like any child might do, he ran into the rain and stretched his arms out to feel it, but with a little bit of obvious hesitation. These were all taken on a day when I let him do a little bit of his own thing, but also sometimes said, "Hey Jack -- come sit here and now look over this way."

3. If you are using digital, find different ways to make your pictures black and white. If you have photo editing software, this will be easier. I have found that just desaturating an image often doesn't get the effect that someone is looking for. And, nobody's method for black and white may be what you like best. Read up on it, and see what you like! (Personally -- I like high contrast black and white, as well as dark and moody black and white.)

4. Take close up portraits! Get right up close -- fill the frame with just someone's face. But...while you're at it, make sure to take some full body shots. And, then do some things in between. I know there is a real movement toward portraits that are uber close up. And, they're great. But...it's nice to have some that aren't so close up as well.

And, while cropping in the camera is great, don't be afraid to get things in the background for your family snapshots! Just think of the fun of seeing Grandpa's first car in an old photograph of him and his high school sweetheart together. Consider that if people were so worried then about "cropping in the camera," you might not have seen that car because the focus would have been tightly on your future Grandma and Grandpa.

Okay...I got wordier than I meant to, so I'll end here. But, perhaps I will add more tips at another time!