HELP! my first shoot!!!!

paigegreen916

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This weekend i'm taking pictures of an amazingly cute little boy. hes 8 years old and VERY energetic. i'm not quite sure how to go about keeping things interesting, how to keep him from getting bored. any advice for taking pictures of chrildren...very...active...chrildren? (though i must say, hes one of those, "smile-any-time-a-camera-is-near" kind of kids, so natural images may be difficult as well)
 
my kids can be like that. you gotta be quick.
and frogs keep them interested for a while.
 
One of these babies!!!

I was at a friends son's third birthday party at the weekend and the best fun I had all day was shooting the kids going nuts in a cloud of bubbles.
 
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an extra card meaning to take more piks
 
Lots of batteries and memory (because you never know). If the pictures are not going to be in the family home, make sure Mom (or Dad) brings several different coloured changes of clothing (Nothing like shooting on a light, sandy beach and having junior show up in head to toe beige! Use the parent to attract his attention toward the camera when shooting, not necessarily right at it, but toward it. Maybe bring a favorite toy or two as well to use as props. Pop over to the 'People' gallery; we've got a few really amazing child photographers, and looking at some of their work may give you ideas.

Good luck!
 
duct tape and cinder blocks... :lol:

I take pics of my spazzy children all the time. I highly recommend the auto-bubble thing. Makes for some great shots. I also get a lot of good pictures of the kids just playing... with their bikes, with each other, etc. That's what kids are all about, after all... just watch that when you do this, you don't have anything ugly in the shot... that can be a bit challenging. Shots of kids playing with water also tends to be a big winner... give most kids a hose and some places where water makes puddles and they'll be happy for hours.

Try to find out ahead what the kid likes and doesn't like, ask the parents what his favorite places are, etc. Try to pick a location that will work for him and for your photography. Sometimes new places that aren't even super fun for kids can be fun for a while, and at least long enough to get a shot.

Generally I shoot a lot and toss quite a few. They just move around too damned much.

Depending on the kid, sometimes you can get them to just sit for a moment or two, and it's great if you can get them to sit with mom/dad/the dog/other siblings.

Remember to try not to take all your shots from a standing position looking down. Try to get a lot from down at their level, and possibly down lower on occasion- just watch your background sky when you do this... try to make sure the light is on the kid and to your back.

If taking pictures outdoors (which I'm obviously assuming you will be), bring a polarizing filter. If you don't have one, get one before hand. You won't regret it.

If taking pictures indoors, make sure to have an external flash with indirect flash capabilities and ideally a diffuser as well.

Remember to take advantage of the rule of thirds, and also try to focus on their eyes.

Remember your DOF... kids are going to be in various random places and distracting crap in the background will instantly ruin any shot.

Just some ideas... hope my stream of consiousness (sp) is helpful. Good luck! I hope you'll post some!
 
Don't spend a lot of time chimping. Practice if you need to to know that the shots you're taking are coming out. If you sit there and chimp every shot you're going to be losing his attention every 15 seconds. That's bad.
 
this has all been really helpful! thank you all very much. in regards to the filter, i where would one go about getting one in a few days time? i generally order my stuff online.
 
^^^ local camera store... even a Ritz in a mall is likely to have some.

Get a sense of prices from B&H before you go so you know what you're getting into. Filters can range in price from $17 to hundreds or more. Just don't buy a wicked cheapie one and you should be ok.
 
I agree, don't get super-cheap. Hoya filters, even the bottom of the range ones, are really well-made, and they're glass, too (compared to the really cheap gelatin ones, that can break easily). they're probably about $40 in US money for a 55mm one.
 

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