I was an avid amateur photographer before I had my son in October 2008, but I’m a little embarrassed to admit just how many times I’ve clicked that shutter since his birth.  Kids are beings that just BEG to be photographed – they’re adorable, messy, and delightfully candid.  Are the photos you’re taking of the kids in your life worth a thousand words?  Here are a couple of tips and tricks for taking amazing pictures of kids:

Quantity CAN equal quality. My son is one of those kids who smiles for pictures- AFTER the flash has gone off.  Missing that toothy (or toothless) grin is no fun.  If you have a “multiple shots” or “burst photography” setting on your camera, use it!  It will let you hold the shutter release button down on the camera and continue taking pictures until you let it go.  A good DSLR can shoot at up to 4 frames per second, ensuring that you capture that random grin your 4-week-old gives you.  Or maybe that was just gas.  Adorable either way.

Deep-six the flash. The flashes on most cameras are too bright and will totally wash out your subjects.  Whenever possible, shoot in natural light – outside, near a window, or in a well-lit room.  You’ll be amazed at the amount of detail in your shots that you would otherwise obscure with the flash – the true colour of your little guy’s eyes, or the delicate, downy hairs on the cheek of your newborn.  Without the flash, everything has so much more depth to it.

Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty. Wear comfortable clothes when photographing kids – it’ll be easier to crawl around on the floor/grass/mud to get down to their level.  Too many pictures of kids are taken from a standing “adult’s point of view”, with your little darling tilting her head up and smiling for you.  It’s when you get down to a child’s point of view that the best photos are captured.  Let them do their thing in their natural habitat (I just realized it sounds like I’m talking about photographing primates), but don’t be afraid to get nice and close.   You can create a lovely shallow depth of field if you capture a picture at eye level, making your little guy or gal’s face just pop out from the background.

Fill your frame. Let’s face it – a lot of empty space in a picture is boring.  Filling your frame with your subject’s face, or even a part of the body, creates an appealing picture with plenty of texture and colour.  Don’t be afraid to get abstract when using this method – I have the most amazing picture of my son’s eyelashes and cheeks when he was 10 weeks old.  I took it on a whim and it’s hanging as an 8 x 10 print in my Mom and Dad’s kitchen.

There’s no wrong way to photograph children, but you’ll be amazed with what can result if you push the envelope and step out of your comfort zone.  Have you taken a photo of your child/children that you’re particularly proud of?  Find me on Flickr so you can show me your handiwork!

Allison Empey,

Guest contributor

Allison Empey is a 29-year-old medical transcriptionist from Ontario, Canada.  She is happily married since 2006 and is having an obscene amount of fun being a mom to her 15-month-old son, Hayden.  Allison is an avid amateur photography with a penchant for portraiture.  She loves to write, and to make people laugh, and has combined the two passions by regularly updating her blog.   Allison’s other loves?  Reading, board games, medicine, cheesecake and wine.

Check out Allison’s websites:  www.flickr.com/allygalore for photos, www.galore.tumblr.com for hilarious (and modest) blog, and www.twitter.com/AllyEmpey to follow her on Twitter!

Tags: children, photography, photos, portraits, Tips