<\/p>\n

1. Shooting at Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking pictures at home, rather than in a professional studio, has become popular in recent years. Your home is a much more natural environment for children, as it instantly puts them at ease.<\/p>\n

Start by moving the couch out of the living room to create an area big enough for the shoot.<\/p>\n

If possible setup a grey seamless paper roll on a stand to create a neutral background, or failing that use an uncluttered wall for more environmental portraits.<\/p>\n

Window lighting provides beautiful natural, directional light that you can utilise during the shoot.<\/p>\n

White ceiling and walls are perfect for bounce flash – if they’re a different colour, use a white sheet.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, make people feel comfortable at home. Don’t make too many changes to their natural environment.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Kids are Impatient<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make sure that you perfect the setup first\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0bringing in the kids – they’ll quickly lose patience with you if you’re not ready.<\/p>\n

Use faster, longer lenses to defocus the background – a fast 85mm lens is great for portraits, but the long end of the standard zoom that came with your interchangeable lens camera is also good.<\/p>\n

Position your subjects at least 6 feet in front of the background, in order to defocus background and to drop shadows behind them.<\/p>\n

3. Using Flash<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use a flashgun to help freeze children’s movements.<\/p>\n

Bounce the flash off the ceiling to increase the lighting sweet spot – setting the shutter speed to 1\/25th sec and the aperture to f\/4 is a good starting point.<\/p>\n

Invest in a flashgun that can be tilted towards both walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Over Here!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Try and attract the attention of kids in a natural way – talking doesn’t always work!<\/p>\n

Try lighting a match (never fails), or use a mobile ringtone to make them look in your direction.<\/p>\n

Failing that, draft in Mum and Dad to help, or their favourite toys.<\/p>\n

Limit distractions – don’t have too many assistants! Shoot kids on your own if you can, or with a maximum of one parent. Too many people in the room will be a hindrance rather than a help.<\/p>\n

Remember, you don’t always need to get children to look directly into the camera to get a great portrait shot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. Get Down and Dirty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Always try shooting at the kid’s eye-level, not yours – get down on your stomach if you have to – it will create much more natural-looking pictures.<\/p>\n

Let the camera do the focusing, not you. Most modern cameras can keep up with fast-moving children.<\/p>\n

Fill in the shadows using an inexpensive piece of 4×4-inch foam-core on the floor, rather than using a second light. Position the subject on the white flooring to create a more evenly lit picture.<\/p>\n

Finally, go wild and let the children run free – chaos can be good and often results in the best pictures!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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