capturing memories

Last night, I was interviewed by a reporter writing a story for a parenting magazine on photographing children. She was interested in both advice for parents on capturing great photos, and on my experience photographing my own children. (The article will appear in September, and I’ll share a link when it does.)

In preparing for the interview, I developed the following tips (with young children in mind), and I thought friends, family and clients might find them helpful.

Lose the “cheese”!
The best photos of kids are taken when they are engaged and interested, either in you or in something in their world. Get them engaged, and you’ll be amazed at what happens to the quality of your photos. Truth of the matter is that not many kids smile naturally or convincingly when commanded to “Say cheese!”

Many of my favorite shots are of my kids at play. Whether they are setting up their favorite parade of animals or having a teddy bear picnic, you can play and engage with them while snapping away. Take time to observe too…I bet you’ll see some new possibilities!

Get down on your child’s level and talk and play. I’m not beyond using silly songs or games to get my daughter’s attention (and eye contact!). I’ve even been known to attach silly critters and stickers to my camera to capture a great expression.

Keep it simple!
You want your child to be the focus of the photo, so be careful to watch out for cluttered backgrounds and distracting elements, such as logos and characters on clothing. A little quiet planning on your part and care in framing the photo will make a huge difference. Anyone who knows me knows that clutter is a big part of our lives, but I’ll do a quick clearing of a tabletop or change my direction to avoid documenting that clutter and creating distractions in my images.

Also, so often we put kids in their fussiest clothes for photos when we’d get better results with the most basic of clothes…a simple sundress or solid polo and shorts. Or with babies, nothing at all!

Look for good light!
Natural light will make for the best photos.

On-camera flashes are handy, but have great limitations, from “red eye” to generally “flat” images. Inside, try photographing your child right next to the window with the flash disengaged. Avoid strong direct sunlight, but an indirect light through a window can produce beautiful results.

One of the most common mistakes parents make is to think that full sun is great light for photos. While it makes the world look beautiful to the naked eye, in photos, it creates squinty eyes and harsh shadows, especially in the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky. Look for open shade, like the shadow of a building. Or try photographing in the beautiful warm light of the hour before the sun sets…it creates a lovely light with soft, elongated shadows.

Get close!
Don’t be afraid to get in close, whether it is your child’s dirty face or just his hands playing with a favorite toy. Use a simple photo program to crop your photos to maximize them.

Conversely, don’t forget to back way out sometimes too. A baby asleep on a huge bed or a small child standing in a doorway or on the steps of a grand building gives you a wonderful sense of scale. Before you know it, he’ll be 6 feet tall and asking for the car keys!

Real the manual!
So many parents are investing in consumer digital SLRs. They are amazing pieces of equipment, but really won’t do much more than your good point & shoot unless you learn some of the basics of photography. Whether P&S or SLR, it’s really worth learning how your camera focuses (it affects how you frame a photo and what will be in focus). Read the manual!

Adjusting for lighting situations is a bit more complicated, but as a starter, knowing how and when to override the automatic flash and how to adjust the ISO to allow you to avoid flash will make a huge difference in your results. Did I mention, read the manual!?!

Capture the moment!
In the end, great memories are about capturing what is near and dear to your heart. Don’t get hung up on capturing a great photo and forget to capture life. When you see an interaction between people or your child and the world, snap away. Long after your memories fade (and they will!!!), the daily snapshots will chronicle an amazing journey and love story. Snap away. There is not a single photo I regret taking. I only remember the ones I missed.

Know when to call a professional!
One of my biggest mistakes that I’ve made as my three children have grown is that I am absent from almost all of our THOUSANDS of family photos. I’ve been hiding behind a camera. I’ve also unnecessarily tortured my children (and myself!) by trying to get that perfect photo of all three of them. I’ve found the solution… hire a pro! I’ll be working with a photographer to capture us all together, both formally and informally. The more I work with families and share in the joy of their family photos, I want my own, and I want to be part of them.

© Laura Brophy 2007. Do not copy or reproduce without permission.

That’s all for now. Feel free to post questions, and I’ll do my best to answer.