My pictures are my memories. If you follow my personal Instagram account, you know I take A LOT of pictures of my kids. And I have a lot of kids, so the outcome is just lots and lots of pictures. Don't say you weren't warned.
That being said, people often ask me (parents in particular) how I get certain shots or capture certain moments of my children. A lot of it just comes naturally in the way I think being a photographer, but that's not to say you can't learn to see and think that way too!! There are also some super simple little tips and tricks that can make a big impact on the overall quality and artistic merit of your phone (or camera) images, especially when it comes to photographing always-moving, forever growing and changing children.
1. Pay attention to the light
You want indirect light to be shining on your subject, not have your subject facing away from the light and lots of brightness behind the subject (unless you're going for a backlit look, which I love - but I'm trying to keep things simple here). If it's super sunny, try jumping in full shade to even out shadows. Phones are great at adjusting settings to your lights, so try a few different angles!
2. Pay attention to the background
I'm the Queen at this - hence lots of "your house is so clean" comments on Instagram and Facebook. Spoiler alert - my house is not always clean - I just pay attention to the background of my images. Cluttered backgrounds take away from the subject. Whether it be a bare wall, moving yourself to not include the crumbs all over your dining room floor or taking two steps to the left, backgrounds matter friends.
3. Get LOW!
Or high! For little kids, get down at their level - I love taking pictures of kids and babies while lying on the ground. I also love looking down on them from up high. Whatever angle you go for - try something besides the exact same thing you do every time.
4. Take five million
This is IMPERATIVE. I never take just one shot of a scene. If I spot my kids doing something super adorable or special, I always try to be very sneaky and turn the sound off on my phone - and then take several shots, a few different angels, etc. Then, when I have a second I look through all of them and choose the very best one. This is especially important with action shots. I'm sure you've all snapped a picture of your kid mid-sentence or mid-jump that is less than attractive. Don't let that be the only one you took.
