Taking great photos for your kids can be very difficult, and for parents like me interested in mobile photography, it can seem like a losing battle. And sometimes, the worst part gets the message “storage full” from your iPhone. I get I was there. So I am making this blog post to share some of my quick tips on making toddlers interested in the camera, using simple props, how to get photos, and your primary phone settings. To maximize your potential of capturing beautiful images.
Today Zega, my second child, is turning four years old. And I wanted to capture every beautiful moment and treasure his image as a toddler’s life Zega turns four, bright, creative, and full of endless energy and dealing with his ASD. He doesn’t like to be drawn attention to sit still for ANYTHING. And certainly not for a photo child. Asking him to smile makes him feel awkward. He also doesn’t like a flash, and hard to get them to look into the camera. So what works for him is natural light and not feeling as he is the main focal point.
SHOP THE OUTFIT DETAILS
The first thing to get kids to connect with is getting the scoop of your child’s favorite things before starting the shoot. “I’m usually pretty good at catching a genuine smile of my child when I start engaging talking to him. I might say something like, ‘do you like to play?’ Which gets them excited” and comfortable; I don’t usually pose him. If you have a toddler, it’s often those perfectly timed moments that make for the best images. The less you interfere while taking pictures, the better it will be.
To help you take better toddler pictures and getting kids interested in the camera.
- Tip #1: Give the toddler somewhere to sit or a place where they can stay and ready before you sit the toddler down because he/she may only wait there a moment.
- Tip #2: Wear Comfortable clothes for pictures
- Tip #3: Give something to hold. Be prepared with their favorite toy Hand the item to the toddler. And give it a few minutes to look at and play with it. Then just wait, camera at the ready, until they look up at you to share delight – then capture the expression.
- For the props, I use mini guitar and Instax mini camera
- Tip #4: Ask him to play copycat. This works better for older who will be able to understand what you’re asking. Sit or lie down and strike a simple pose and tell them what a great copycat is when they copy your posture. As long as you keep telling them what a great job doing, they likely continue to impersonate you for at least a couple of poses.
- Tip #5: Don’t ask for a smile; surprise them into one and capture the genuine smile.
I hope you have as much fun as we did as you explore taking photos activities with your toddler. We’d love to hear back from you 🙂
