6 Tips to Get Great Pictures of Kids!

Kids.

Oh, kids.

They can be exasperating to work with.

Let's be honest, a happy child is the most wild, free spirited thing you'll ever know and will hardly sit still or look at a camera long enough to say cheese. BUT if you know a few tricks they can be the most beautiful, magical creatures you've ever worked with! 

Here's a few things I've learned that make photographing kids my favorite! (And they don't even have to smile...)

Connect. You have to have to connect with them somehow. If you connect with them they will be more likely to respond to your direction.

1. Be FUN - throw leaves with them. Play a game of making faces. High five them - a lot!

I think it's really important to know their names, and use it a lot!

2. Change it up. K, now jump around. Look at mom. Make a silly face. Now give me your best smile! Now stop smiling and freeze…. Work with their short attention spans! They're guaranteed to get a little cranky (or maybe a lot) if they are expected to sit still and hold a, now fake, smile.

3. Give them breaks. Again, work with their short attention spans, and give them quick breaks to run around or get a drink or go to mom

4. Encourage good behavior. If mom and dad haven’t already bribed - I mean encouraged - them to be (generally) well behaved, then figure out some kind of reward. Small candies (with parents' permission) like smarties (NO CHOCOLATE) or pez work miracles. If candy is a no-go, simple rewards like hopping up and down can feel like a reward (and also goes along with "give them breaks").

5. Don't make them smile in every shot. Sometimes I like to tell the kids, "don't worry about smiling, just look at me like you're listening." Or, "don't worry about looking at the camera right now... why don't you look at _____________?"

6. Follow them around. Let the kid(s) set the pace for a little bit and follow his or her lead. Ask for their ideas, and go with them. If there is a child who just refuses to cooperate you might be amazed at how they change when they feel like they are in charge! Action shots are another great way to capture their personalities. Follow them around and snap away!

No matter what you do, don't forget to breathe. Don't rush through the experience, try to enjoy it and create those portraits that will be timeless for them and possibly generations to come!

You've totally got this!

What are some of your tricks to get great pictures of kids?
What other challenges do you want to overcome in your portrait photography?

Portrait Party... aka Photo Partay!!

I am super behind on posting images from the past few sessions, but these girls are dying to see their pictures, so I'm "throwing" them up here! 

We laughed a lot as these girls worked the camera. :) Really, they're just naturally beautiful girls and getting incredible shots of them was easy peasy. 

My sister (the first one pictured) will be going back to Hawaii at the end of the month and wanted some fallish pictures before she leaves (haha pun not intended)! The colors weren't as brilliant as we had hoped, but obviously we got some good shots even if they don't scream Autumn! 

Honestly, so much fun!

Pretty Colors. Pretty Girls.

 

 

There is so much that I love about Fall!

Obviously, the gorgeous colors that give off the last ray of life, like it's trying to tell us, "Don't forget that there will be life and beauty again... just get through the winter!" Yes. Just get through the winter.

I love that the weather cools off and I can wear my cute sweaters that have been hanging out in my closet since April (remember, I was in Hawai'i in May). Oh yes, and my boots, too. Don't forget to get out those boots! 

And who doesn't love going out and taking pictures in the Fall?!?! Whether it's professionally done or not, who can resist the landscape and playing in the fallen leaves?! Well, obviously if you live in Hawai'i, you are missing out on a thing or two... 

Actually... let's make that one thing. Juuuuuust one. You trump everything else. :-)

Clearly, McKaida and Abbi were awesome to work with! How easy was it for me when these girls are so dang cute?! So. easy. The hardest part about the shoot was racing the light. Apparently, the sun is setting sooner and if you go up into the mountains on the other side of the sun... you're going to get cold and it's going to get dark even earlier. Lesson. Learned. (Again.)

Anyway, we had fun. The girls were awesome. We found some colorful spots that were accessible. I am super duper pleased with these images... so pretty much life is great! 

If you're in a place to enjoy the Fall colors, I hope you do! It will be so good for your soul. 

And if you live in Hawai'i, or somewhere that doesn't really have "seasons"... well, you're lucky. Go to the beach or something. That's good for your soul, too. :-)

 

Life is Amazing

Yes. Yes it is.

Slow Down!

We drove up into the mountains as a family (yes, we do that often) to enjoy the fall colors and let the boys run around... aaaaaaaand so I could take some pictures... (I admitted before hand that I had ulterior motives.)

It was lovely and cold... but refreshing.

This is my favorite shot of the day. Can you believe he's only 5? Looking at this picture I can already imagine what it will be like to take his High School Senior Portraits...  

Sad.

Hey! Stop growing up so fast, wouldya?!  Love, Mom.