Photographing children: capture the youth
Capturing your little ones in photos
Children live in their own world of emotions and experiences, exploring our world and making new and exciting discoveries every day. We, the grown-ups, want to see as much of this as possible and to record this time together in beautiful pictures for ourselves and our families. To make these photographs even more successful, we have some tips for you that are simple but effective.
The feel-good factor
Children are not models who can be placed just where you want them to be and then smile into the camera on command. Although parents are there to guide their children through the world, for really beautiful photos you should move onto their level. The camera can then be directly incorporated into the playing, but it is best if it plays no role at all. The children have to feel comfortable, not observed. Staged poses, feigned smiles and uncertain posture often look unnatural and can spoil the picture. Have somebody familiar play with the child, while the photographer keeps rather invisible and quiet in the background.
Perspectives
Meet your child at eye-level. Pictures from above make the children appear even smaller than they are, which rarely leads to a pleasing picture. It is better to move your camera at the height of the face. If you then also keep the golden section in mind and try to have the eyes as sharply in focus as possible, as in portraits, your children will automatically become outstanding leading performers.
Always be prepared
The best pictures happen spontaneously and incidentally. That is why it is an advantage to always, as far as possible, have your camera or at least your smart phone to hand. This way you will not miss any beautiful moments in your children's lives. Here it is a good idea to always shoot a series of photos in one go, from which you can later pick out the best results. Do not get annoyed if you are sometimes not quick enough and do not irritate yourself and the people around you with posed attempts to repeat something. Great situations will arise time after time for making beautiful photos.
(Im)perfect
Children often move quickly and unpredictably. They do not care about the light or whether you are trying to win a photography prize or shoot a greeting card for relatives. Of course, it is usually an advantage if the children play in front of a light source, instead of "hiding" behind it, but even here the main rule is to let the children simply be children. It is better to adjust the settings of your camera. For photographing fast movements use your camera's "high speed" mode and try to increase the ambient light instead of using the flash. You should avoid using the flash altogether, especially in the case of small children.
The camera
If you are thinking about treating yourself to a new camera, perhaps because of the birth of a child, pay attention to how light-sensitive the lens is, so that you can take good pictures even in poor lighting conditions. Also, the pictures should not already look completely grainy at ISO 800. Read through a few test reports carefully and do not allow yourself to be dazzled by just the great mega-pixel specifications. It is best to take hold of the camera at a specialist dealer and have the functions explained to you. There are now also robust, waterproof outdoor cameras that you can place without worries in the hands of children from the age of three. This leads to entirely new impressions and perspectives, and even you parents sometimes get into the picture.
Photographing children and personality rights
Children, like adults, are entitled to the rights to their own picture. That is why, for example, it is usually forbidden to take out a camera at nursery schools. In general, one should behave correspondingly respectfully and ask the parent or legal guardian for permission beforehand. As long as you only use the pictures privately and do not interfere in the private sphere of the children, or as long as your own child clearly represents the main motif, you do not have to worry, however.
Backups
Over time, more and more pictures will pile up on your home hard-drive. In order to avoid the loss of your photo collection, we recommend that you make at least one complete external backup and if you really want to be on the safe side, it is a good idea to have the best everyday pictures regularly Developed on photo paper and to store them the classic way in photo albums. Or you can now use one of our Photo book variants.