We all seem to have hundreds and sometimes even thousands of photos of our loved one’s (mostly the kids and pet’s) on our phones. We snap away hoping there will be one or two good ones that we can use but is it just luck when you get the perfect picture? Photographing your kids at home can be tricky so here are our top 5 tips to taking a cracking photo of your children at home and after 44 years of taking photos we think we have learnt a thing or two!
Good lighting
Lighting is probably the most important thing when it comes to taking a good photo at home. Natural light is the best so find yourself a room with good natural light and turn off the overhead lights. If you can head outdoors do and experiment with the light at different times of day and see how much it changes your images.
Background
Think about what you have in the background. The breakfast dishes or the TV will not make for a good backdrop. Against a wall, in a door way, in the garden or sitting on a chair are all areas you can try where the focus will be on your child rather than what is behind them. You can try even hanging material up and shooting against it for a different look. Colours work really well too so if you have any blankets, coloured card/paper or a lovely feature wall then use it. Experiment and see what colours work well, we have a range of different colours in the studio that work with different skin tones and hair colour.
Relaxed expressions
Nearly every child will pull a funny face if you ask them to smile. Their ‘smile’ face is usually contorted and not natural at all so just start talking to them and get them to interact with you. This is when you will get the most natural expressions from them without them even releasing you are taking the photo. Talk to them about their day at school, what is their favourite food and who has the smelliest feet in the family (this one always gets a giggle and the perfect time to take a photo!) A good photo is not always about a smile either, try asking them to pull different funny faces – the results are hilarious! Some of our best award winning images are of children with a serious expression or not even looking at the camera so give it a try.
Props
Let them get their favourite teddy or toy to bring into the photo. Not only will it make them feel more comfortable, it will be a lovely memory of their favourite thing at that age. Teddies are great for this kind of image, lining them all up in height order against a wall with your child at one end is really cute! Or seeing how many dinosaurs they can hold at one time. Food works really well too, similar to our cake smash sessions but try it with a cupcake or a slice of watermelon will make for a fun and colourful photo .
Action shots
Its not all about sitting still. Running, jumping (we love a good star jump) and racing round the garden gives you an opportunity to get something different. Summer is great time for water fight photos, we absolutely love an Autumn leaves shoot and stick those wellies on for some jumping in puddle action shots.
That’s it! Good luck taking your own photos and when you do get some great one’s, we would love to see them. Head over to our social channels and share them with us.
