How to Take Great Pictures of Your Kids

Learn How to Take Great Pictures of Your Kids with unique angles and viewpoints to create stunning pictures of your own kids.

Hi, I’m Pam and I’m a mom and a photographer. Like many photographer moms, I started out learning my camera so I could photograph and capture my baby’s childhood. I started in 2012 while I was anticipating being a mom and enjoying my nephews while I waited. I finally welcomed a healthy little girl in 2014 and now my computer is overflowing with hundreds of thousands of photos!

How to Take Great Pictures of Your Kids

When I was asked if I had any tips for moms who wanted to take better photos, I couldn’t’ help but think of the photos I liked best that I’ve taken. If I could summarize my tip, I would say “Think about who’s viewpoint you want to capture.”

Usually when we’re out and about, we stand 3 or more feet taller than our kids and snap away, capturing as much of the scene as we can. But what if we captured what they saw instead?

What if we captured their view of their world? I really feel like those are the photos I love the most, because they convey more emotion. They give us a glimpse into the wonder of being a kid again. Sometimes I miss the awesome tree in the background, but I catch the look on her face while she looks at the tree. That’s the photo I love most.

If we expand on that thought and think again “who’s viewpoint am I capturing” we can focus not just on the subject, but the action. I love seeing the photos that show off the tiny little fingers and the sweet little scene that’s unfolding in her lap. Sometimes focusing on the action that’s taking place, again on their level, can create a real sense of intimacy. Get down face to face, and photograph the action on their plane.

Maybe my tip should be “don’t wear nice pants” because I really believe kneeling down, sitting down, crouching down to get on their plane, will elicit the greatest emotional photo.

Do we want to capture their world from above or do we want to capture their world from their perspective. Whenever I place my printed photos into albums, I imagine one day that my daughter will flip through those pages and be reminded of her childhood.

I hope the photos take her back to that time by showing her the world as she saw it. But more than that, I hope she sees the love I have for her through those photos. I hope she sees that I tried to know her; to see her world. I hope she sees how light and wonderful she makes my life because it is through our children that we get to experience the extraordinary in the ordinary.

So get down there, see their view and take pictures of your own kids!