3 Keys to Forever Photos of Your Kids (From a Pro)

Kids grow up fast, but photos and video are the closest thing we have to time travel. The trouble is, most camera rolls are overflowing with uninspired, duplicate shots of kids staring off in every direction. So how do you capture beautiful and meaningful photos of your kids that will stand the test of time?

As someone that has been paid to photograph lifestyle photography for 10+ years, I could talk about this subject for days. However today I simplified it to 3 points:

• Where do I stand?

• When do I click the shutter?

• How do I get those little suckers to sit still?

  
  

All the tips in this article work whether you have an iPhone or a Hasselblad. Let’s get started.

1. Where should I stand?

This first tip comes straight from an old book I received as a gift: Get down to their eye level.

How can I see the world of a child if I am taking the photo from 6 ft high? This is not a hard and fast rule, but it is a great place to start when I know I’m photographing a child.

Children are small and it changes where I need to stand. When I photograph adults I habitually start at, say, 7 feet away from my subject, but with children I have to remind myself to take a few steps closer.

Getting closer fills the frame with relevant subject matter and cuts down on awkward dead space. Remember that children don’t care about edge distortion like adults do, so don’t be afraid to use wide-angle lenses.

A tip from the world of professional cinematographers.

Thinking with your feet first helps take away the chaos of photographing busy. Sometimes it feels like I am swinging a camera all over the place trying to get a good shot.

I want to offer a tip from the world of cinematography that solves the problem of kids running around. (And especially helps with using manual focus lenses!)

Move your feet, find a frame, pull focus to where your ideal shot would be, then let the action play out within the frame. Be extra mindful of your aperture to ensure that you have enough area in focus.

It is not unusual for me to find a good frame, then park in that spot for 10 minutes waiting for something interesting to happen. I will awkwardly take a couple steps in a specific direction while having a conversation with someone so that they will shift with me to a better spot. The rest is waiting for the moment to present itself.

I don’t need to frantically wave the camera around trying to track a moving child when I can anticipate action and let the motion happen within a static frame I already have set up.

2. When should I click the shutter?

When and where you should hunt for a photo:

Not enough tutorials exist in the photography world about WHEN to take a photo. 

When training new photographers I frequently get frustrated with their tendencies to drop their guard after finishing a composition. It’s easy to relax when the energy in the room starts to relax. But those are the moments when the subject shows their true self.

If you watch me on a photo shoot, there will be a few key moments where you hear me start clicking the shutter a LOT.

1. When there is a shift in attention, action, or emotion. (Like when someone relaxes, glances, or gets excited.)

2. When someone breaks tension with laughter.

3. When other kids or adults interact with a kid.

Every new location requires workshopping to find the best lighting and angles. As a dad that looks like spending 10 seconds when I enter a room to examine my surroundings. I ask myself:

1. Where is the light coming from?

2. What is the most attractive background here?

I adjust any camera settings necessary, and take practice compositions to confirm the shot.

While many factors contribute to a great photo, lighting, composition, and moment are the three essential pieces for a memorable image. As a documentary photographer or dad cam – The goal is to have my lighting and potential compositions figured out BEFORE a wonderful moment presents itself. When I complete that mini-analysis and adjust my settings, I go about my evening like a normal human.

But when the spidey senses tingle – I am 100% ready to take a good shot.

A key tip is to match the energy of the moment with the camera. If the moment is peaceful, my energy must be calm and subtle. If kids are excited I can be more in their face.

The right time and place

Now as a dad – it’s not only about taking a picture when someone shows their soul. It’s about taking photos at the right time and place.

First: The best time to search for photos is when everyone else ISN’T taking photos.

If other people have their cell phone cams out – it likely isn’t going to be the best shot of the evening. I come home from vacations with thousands of photos, but I always seem to want the quiet moments at home the most. Those photos are very special to me as a father.

Second: There is a catch with documenting life in the more mundane moments. If I am not careful I can affect relationships or forget to be present.

I try not to photograph too much when it’s just me and my son. It puts up a wall between me and my kid that I don’t love. I want him to be able to have access to me at all times and not need to go through my camera.

This is a very delicate line that I try to walk with grace. I can always feel when I get close to frustrating my family with photographs, and have a few photos that serve as uncomfortable reminders to control my passions. As a creative dad that is often in my own head, being present with my family is a struggle I am trying to master.

But in general – I have rules for myself that I don’t photograph when:

1. Having serious discussions.

2. My kid is on the verge of being emotional.

3. When I first see my son. Meaning when he first wakes up, when I first come home, or when I walk out to see him with his friends. I try to show him I will always put my relationship with him first before taking out the camera.

3. How do I get them to sit still?

Face & eye detection autofocus is a godsend for photographing kids, but there are much bigger problems to solve. Photographers often look for eye contact and a beautiful background, but kids always tend to have their heads cranked around looking at the vista instead of at the camera. (As they should!)

So not only do I have to stop the wiggling long enough to get the shot, but I also have to get them to look in the right direction.

How do we solve this problem?

First – a couple rules of thumb:

• If I have to tell them to look, the candid moment I wanted to photograph is probably gone. (Obvious exceptions)

• I have 1-2 times a night to say “Stay right where you are!” before I risk killing the mood.

To get a kid to sit still, I have to earn their attention. Cheap methods like loud noises or calling their name works occasionally – but the best results come from genuinely asking questions or being smarter with my body positioning. I can show them something cool in my direction, I can give them a compliment, or I can politely ask for their attention to take a quick photo.

If I can’t get the kid to stay still for something specific, I never force the moment. I use the cinematography tip I mentioned earlier or revisit the composition later. In general – the answer is to build a polite and genuine relationship with the child, then trusting my skill and familiarity with the gear to move quickly.

A quick note on using burst modes

I am not an advocate for burst modes because it gives me more work in the cull. (Culling is when you select the best photos of a batch.)

But with kids, knowing when to hold the trigger is important. 

There are very few moments of golden laughter or childlike fun that presents itself every night, and I have to make those moments count. My rule of thumb is to have a finger resting lightly on the shutter with a medium burst rate ready to rock and roll. Fast burst rates often trigger 2-4 frames I don’t want with every shutter press, whereas slow or medium burst rates allow me to alternate between taking a single photo and holding for burst.

I will always choose to overshoot when working with kids because there is such a heavy emphasis on moment. If I generally shoot 1000 photos for a session with adults – with a family I might return with 1500 to 2000. What that means for the everyday photographs is that instead of taking 5 quick photos – take 15. You can always go back and delete the bad ones.

Bonus Tips & Wrap Up:

I want to leave you with 3 bonus tips before wrapping up the article: 

1. I aim to shoot a formal portrait once a year to have a clear “this is who my child was at this time of his or her life.”

2. A guitar in its case gets played less than a guitar on the couch. I keep my camera on the kitchen counter so I remember to grab the everyday moments.

3. Don’t be afraid to include some clutter. Old toys on the floor become relics 10 years down the road.

Think with your feet, get on their level, and click the shutter button when nobody else has their phones out. A respectful relationship between your family and your camera will lead to genuine photographs that grow in value over time.