Creating Memorable Childhood Photos Pt. 1

For this wonderful blog, I’ve been tasked to share my experience and tips on photographing children. I have to say, my experience in working in the world of fashion has helped me appreciate the importance of setting up a portrait session or simply taking spontaneous photos in the lives of my own children.

Since photographing children can be a science of its own, here are several things I can recommend as a “Mom-tographer” which can ultimately represent you!

Part 2 is now up with 7 Tips to Make Photography Composition Easy!

First, let’s start with some common sense photographer basics:

Know your kids!

As a Mom, you know very well what makes them tick, so use it as ammunition and remember what makes them laugh and what you need to avoid tantrums and meltdowns.

Know your camera

Find a camera with creative modes (Portrait, fast action, landscape, macro, shutter and Aperture Priority modes). These are the no brainer dials which will help if you are not well versed with manual exposures. Trust me, I used them to my heart’s content, til I learned how to shoot manually! If you are, then even better! Use focal length and aperture to your advantage. For example, find a good lens for your DSLR. My go to portrait lenses are my Canon 24-70mm 2.8, 50mm 1.2 or 85mm 1.2 primes. These lenses are not only fast, but are great for blurring out the background. If you can’t afford these expensive lenses, simply choosing a wide aperture manually will do the same (2.8 or less is sufficient). This is an effective way of drawing your attention, and making your subject pleasing to look at.

A great article explaining aperture and f/stops: Master Aperture and Understand F/Stop

Taking pictures of your kids should be fun, casual and creative.

If it becomes a task, then your kids will sense and then project that outward.

Be sure to check out this article! 8 Tips for Natural Poses and Smiles

Make it a point to connect and interact with your child/children.

Keep moving with them. Like kids, sitting still in one place is nearly impossible. When taking pictures, the same should be for you!

Just relax, watch and enjoy the moments.

Keep calm and try not to be too much of a dictator.

Don’t stress, there will always be other opportunities!

Now that you know what you can expect, you can prepare your shoot accordingly. We will be focusing on composition and posing in the next two blog posts to this series, I will try to stear away from camera modes, lighting aspects for now.

Hi, I am Janet Brock of Purely Captivating Photography, based in San Diego, CA! I am truly excited about this honorable invitation of being a Guest blogger for Sixth Bloom, by Erin Rachel Photography.

I will confess quickly, that I am a workaholic Mom with two adolescent children. I am an ER/ICU Respiratory Therapist by trade, but a very passionate wedding and portrait photographer by heart! I not only juggle my business, work, baseball, karate and volunteer for Operation Love and The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep foundation; but I am also a proud U.S. Marine Corps Spouse, who also helps care for my amazing Mom who just suffered a stroke 4 months ago. Needless to say, I simply adore my family and my big fluffy Persian cat, Sebastian. There is certainly not enough hours in a day for this Mommy! Although I struggle to find balance in everything in my life, I take it in stride and believe in God to guide me; give me courage and strength to accomplish all that I need to do. I embrace all things that life has to offer and hope that I can somehow make a difference, this includes my photography! As a professional photographer and Mommy, it is understood that my camera is constantly attached to my hip! With these aspects in my repertoire, it is my goal to document the lives of my kids and my family as much as I can. What better way to explore the world than to capture my own!