trying to catch a walking toddler

Dmariehill

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So my challenge is trying to get good shots with a newly walking toddler. Everytime I had the background right, she moved. I found that I was having a hard time moving fast enough to even get good snapshots much less adjust for composition. I started out down on her level, but she was just so fast, I couldn't keep up on my knees. lol. Any tips for taking these types of fast moving shots? Do I just need to be content with snapshot level in these cases and worry about composition when I can do a more posed shot?

1. Walking with Daddy - the background is the issue here. If not for the house and the sidewalk and Daddy's extra hand this would have been really cute but it existed for just an instant.
$IMG_5096cropb.jpg

2. The big grin - I really hate that the tire and car bumper are in the corner of this one. I tried adjusting the shadows to hide it but it just made a big dark spot in the corner. I think it's almost less noticeable this way. It's a good snapshot, but with a different background it could have been awesome.
$IMG_5092crop.jpg

3. The bee walk - just thought this one was cute, but again, I think it's just snapshot level.
$IMG_5099.JPG
 
Having a "really good camera" doesn't make one a really good photographer. It takes talent, skill, patience and experience. If it was easy everyone would be able to do it. Few can do it really well. Now you can appreciate why photographers charge for what they do. You are already better than the average snapshot taker because you can see the problems you are experiencing and demand a higher quality end product. They say kids and pets are the 2 hardest things to shoot. They involve a lot of time and patience. Keep shooting and learning. You'll start to learn how to get yourself set up to get your best angles. You'll start to get to where you can anticipate things. Add to this learning how to utilize equipment better, off camera flash for instance, and you're on your way to better pics.
 
Find a spot with good light and nice background
Get to her eye level.
Turn the flash off
Put you camera on cont. shooting
Take some test shots and adjust your settings
Give her something small and not distracting that will capture her attention
Start shooting changing your position, distance and angles slightly and not so slightly.
Keep communicating
Watch the changing light
Be quick, take a lot of shots. A LOT
Analyse your shots on the comp screen.
Select the best angles and positions.
Make mental notes re your mistakes.
Watch for cut off limbs, tilted horisons, bad shadows, distractions, depth of field, blur caiused by slow shutter speed
Think about it
Do it all over again.
See above.

Borrow a book about composition

Keep shooting

In a months time of hard work you will probably get an image that will be worth hanging on the wall.
Post it here. You will get a fantastic response and become our hero.
Do not forget to thank me.
And then start it all over again.
 
Find a spot with good light and nice background
Get to her eye level.
Turn the flash off
Put you camera on cont. shooting
Take some test shots and adjust your settings
Give her something small and not distracting that will capture her attention
Start shooting changing your position, distance and angles slightly and not so slightly.
Keep communicating
Watch the changing light
Be quick, take a lot of shots. A LOT
Analyse your shots on the comp screen.
Select the best angles and positions.
Make mental notes re your mistakes.
Watch for cut off limbs, tilted horisons, bad shadows, distractions, depth of field, blur caiused by slow shutter speed
Think about it
Do it all over again.
See above.

Borrow a book about composition

Keep shooting

In a months time of hard work you will probably get an image that will be worth hanging on the wall.
Post it here. You will get a fantastic response and become our hero.
Do not forget to thank me.
And then start it all over again.

As others have mentioned getting down on her level will make a huge difference in the final results. Also, do some reading on Aperture and your camera's A mode. One of the things you will find in a lot of portraits shot by pro's is that they use a wide aperture setting (the lowest number they can) - what this does is to blur the background, an effect that is often referred to as bokeh. There are a couple of things you can do to increase this effect and blur out the background - one of course I've already mentioned, and that is to increase your aperture setting.

The second is to get as close to your subject as you can. Third, when possible increase the distance between your toddler and the background. The further away she is from the background, the more effect the rest of the methods will have in blurring out the background and making her stand out. If your lens is a zoom lens, you can also enhance the effect by increasing the focal length of the lens by zooming it in.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I'll give those ideas a try!
 

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