tips of photographing little kids?

KaO12343 · May 1, 2013

hi there everyone.. im obviously a newbie with a dslr so would you kindly give me a few tips of photographing little kids say from 1 and up

cheers p.s i have a nikon d5100

Juga · May 1, 2013

Be extremely light on your feet and use a fast lens.

KaO12343 · May 1, 2013

could you reccomend me a fast lense that would fit a nikon?

Derrel · May 1, 2013

A few tips. Make sure they start out clean and tidy, faces washed, clothes drool-free and spill-free. Watch the backgrounds. Get down on their level, since it makes their faces appear more clearly, and makes them seem "bigger in the frame" than standing and shooting down. Watch the backgrounds--try to eliminate distracting things. SOmetimes this requires deliberate thought, as to where to place the kid and his/her "activity". Give them an "activity". Modeling clay,building blocks, empty cups, a ball and a cup, a toy or doll, whatever...or set them in front of a train set or dollhouse, or give them a pack of old playing cards and a roll of adhesive or masking tape...or give 'em a big cardboard box!!! Watch the background. Make sure there's "some kind" of interesting lighting that's not too bright and not too dark. Watch the backgrounds. Place the kid in a safe place, get down to his/her level, and make some basic exposure determinations and lens length choices. If you have a wide lens, shoot from close.I f you have a tele or tele-zoom, shoot from farther back. Watch the backgrounds. Make sure they are clean--at the START of the session at least. Watch the backgrounds.

I think you can see what the most-critical thing is. IMHO.

Juga · May 1, 2013

Derrel said:
A few tips. Make sure they start out clean and tidy, faces washed, clothes drool-free and spill-free. Watch the backgrounds. Get down on their level, since it makes their faces appear more clearly, and makes them seem "bigger in the frame" than standing and shooting down. Watch the backgrounds--try to eliminate distracting things. SOmetimes this requires deliberate thought, as to where to place the kid and his/her "activity". Give them an "activity". Modeling clay,building blocks, empty cups, a ball and a cup, a toy or doll, whatever...or set them in front of a train set or dollhouse, or give them a pack of old playing cards and a roll of adhesive or masking tape...or give 'em a big cardboard box!!! Watch the background. Make sure there's "some kind" of interesting lighting that's not too bright and not too dark. Watch the backgrounds. Place the kid in a safe place, get down to his/her level, and make some basic exposure determinations and lens length choices. If you have a wide lens, shoot from close.I f you have a tele or tele-zoom, shoot from farther back. Watch the backgrounds. Make sure they are clean--at the START of the session at least. Watch the backgrounds.

I think you can see what the most-critical thing is. IMHO.

I think you forgot to mention something about backgrounds...hahaha

I strongly agree with this. I have been shooting a couple of birthday parties lately and the backgrounds are extremely difficult to deal with at parties because EVERYONE wants to be around the birthday boy/girl...you don't want butts coming out of heads and arms coming out of butts...etc. Same goes for trash cans, mailboxes, light poles, blah blah blah.

As for suggesting a fast lens...I mostly use my 50mm f/1.8 II which Nikon has a similar lens and most on this forum will shout vulgarities for even mentioning the lens. However, I use it and works great but I have also used a 17-55mm f/2.8 and 85 f/1.8 and both are extremely fast lenses.

frommrstomommy · May 1, 2013

I have found it to be easiest to get good shots of my almost 1 year old by enlisting daddy to chase him, place him and make him smile so im free to run around snapping away.

KrisztinaK · May 3, 2013

Derrel has made so many good points. I have to agree with everything he has already pointed out.
Nothing worse than downloading an otherwise great photo to find that the kid's face is dirty or the background looks terrible.

Enlisting a helper is also a great idea, especially when it comes to getting them to look in the direction of the camera. I've found that it helps to have them stand as close as possible to you though, so that their gaze is not directed in an undesirable direction.
Good eye contact with the camera can make a shot really stand out.

TJC · May 13, 2013

I have two, two year old grandchildren. Good points posted here. The background thing is tough to control but important. As for dirty faces, yeah genrally, but there are times you don't want the kids looking like Macy's models. Like when they're slurping down an Ice Cream Cone.

Best advice posted is to get down on their level. Fill the frame with happy kid or tired kid or reflective kid, but fill the frame.

I also lay on my stomach and shoot up, or lay on my back with them on top of grandpa. Unusual angles, smiles so wide you can hear the laughter! These are shots that come alive. Great stuff!!!

gsgary · May 13, 2013

You need a hammer and 4no 6" nails now nail their hands and feet to the floor and they cannot move

manicmike · May 13, 2013

gsgary said:
You need a hammer and 4no 6" nails now nail their hands and feet to the floor and they cannot move

Duck Tape is much more easy to use.

jake337 · May 13, 2013

manicmike said:
gsgary said:

You need a hammer and 4no 6" nails now nail their hands and feet to the floor and they cannot move

Click to expand...

Duck Tape is much more easy to use.

Candy or ice cream. They will sit plenty still before they finish it. But then the whole "keep em' clean" part is out the window.

I don't mind dirty faces. Well at least I don't when it's family and the image is just for fun/memories. But if you are going to go messy, go all the way!

If it was for a paid gig then yes "keep em' clean"!

table1349 · May 13, 2013

In a word.....Valium. One per kid and three for the photographer. The pictures may be turn out to be crap, but at least you won't end up in a sanitarium. :lol:

:lmao:

cynicaster · May 14, 2013

I've got two nieces (2 years old and 6 months old) that I have photographed, dare I say, ad nauseum, and here are some things I've picked up along the way.

- number one, hands down, is "watch the backgrounds" but I think Derrel has sufficiently driven that point home already. DAMN, is it frustrating when you get a nice sharp shot of an awesome moment or facial expression, but it looks like the child is growing out of some background adult's crotch, or they have a lamp cord sticking out of their ear, or there is a child's car seat and overflowing diaper bag in the background, or..... you get the idea.

- less-than-perfectly-clean faces aren't really a concern for me usually, but that's up to you to decide what you'll tolerate. It's worth noting that minor cheek smudges, etc. can easily be corrected in post; much more easily that crappy backgrounds can be corrected, anyway. Watch for crusty boogers, though... yuck.

- if the weather is nice, get outside. There are all kinds of advantages to this over indoor shooting--but be wary of really bright sun, as it will make the kids squint and have harsh shadows on their faces, neither of which look good. To make matters worse, you have to watch closely to see the problem on your LCD viewfinder, or you might not catch it until you're downloading your pics to the PC and it's too late. If mid-day sun is your only option, there are things you can do to manage it (use shade, use modifiers, etc.)

- re: "use a fast lens". Obviously, that is a desirable thing to have, but the reality is, aside from the ~$100 "nifty fifty" f/1.8 prime lenses, most lenses that could reasonably be called "fast" are pretty expensive and therefore the vast majority of us mere mortal hobbyists and novices don't have them in our camera bags. As far as the nifty-fifty goes, it's a nice lens for the money, but IMO it's a horrible lens to be using on a crop-sensor camera indoors in this situation. At an effective focal length of 50 x 1.6 = 80mm (Canon's crop factor; I'm sure Nikon's is similar), the field of view is too narrow to be useful in cramped quarters, ESPECIALLY when the subject matter consists of kids who can't sit still for 2 seconds. Large, open rooms and back yards are better situations for the fifty if you must use it, but honestly, with the modest kit I have, if I'm indoors I'll go for the 18-55mm kit lens + bounce flash all day long over the fifty.

- always be mindful of shutter speeds. Kids tend to make unpredictable "snap" motions which can cause motion blur in their limbs, etc. and ruin an otherwise perfect image. Yet another advantage of shooting outdoors with abundant light.

- longer zoom lenses are awesome for taking pictures of kids outside. I like to use my 55-250, sit off to the side of the yard, and snap candid photos of the kids. The long focal length usually provides a nice softening of the background, and you can just unobtrusively snap all the photos you want of the kids being themselves.

- I'm sure some will disagree with this suggestion, but don't be afraid to leave a tad of extra space around the subject so that you can "customize" the final crop in post. The more you can get right "in camera" the better, but when trying to capture such dynamic moving subjects, nailing the exposure and the focus are more important than the framing, because you can crop later. I'm always staggered at how much impact and visual appeal can be added to some photos by doing this.