1. Get down on their level. The tops of little heads and the ground aren't nearly as cute as seeing their faces and the world that as they see it. You can be sure if you scrunch down low to the ground, you will get some of those lovely backgrounds, such as fall leaves, too.
2. Seek natural light. Turn your flash off and try not to look back. Big windows work wonders and if at all possible, get outside. Having said that, being outside isn't always possible. So, position yourself close to a window with your back to it but not blocking the light on your little one's face. Scrunch down low and get them as they play in the light through the window. No direct sunlight is necessary, just natural indirect light. You'll see that their eyes look sparkly. **If you shoot with your little one between the window and you, you will most likely always get a silhouette, which can be cool sometimes, but mostly... doesn't let us get a good look at their features.
3. Watch your backgrounds. When you get down low and have your back to the window, what do you see? That pile of books? The big cluster of plastic toys under a heap of laundry. I know houses can't always be tidy. But if you are intending to shoot some photos, clear the clutter from your background. Or pile your stuff in another room that doesn't have as much light.
4. Be playful. You don't always need to have your little one looking right at you. Catch them in their natural environment just having fun or being focused on an activity. Try to avoid saying "Look here, look here." That gets pretty annoying when you are asked to stop playing and look at the camera every five seconds. Instead, let them play and move around to catch their eyes or have another adult being silly with them. If you want to catch some photos outside, then set up something fun for the kids to run around and do. Try bubbles or playing catch, throwing rocks, or running through a field or down a hill. Otherwise, your little one is going to start forcing those smiles and saying "No more pictures mommy!"
5. Take a million photos. You will get 900,000 blurry ones, looking the wrong direction or with their eyes closed. You can always deleted them. But you cannot keep a shot you never took because you didn't keep shooting.
6. Zoom in. Don't make the mistake of zooming out and then planning to crop later. Zoom in on your little one. Sometimes the best shots are close-ups just their upper torso or face and sometimes even just the eyes and nose and mouth of a cute expression. Zooming in allows for more interesting depth of field, meaning that your child is in focus, but the background is nicely blurred. Zooming out does not give that to you.
7. Choose and Edit. You don't need to keep all your photos. Pick your top photos and try not to select similar photos. Then edit. Most photographs will require some sort of editing. But be careful not to overdo it. I have used iPhoto for years until I outgrew it and now use Aperture, an apple application. You can retouch, and play around with many aspects of your pictures, including/decreasing the black, the contrast, saturation and vibrancy. As well as various black and white filters. Not sure what to recommend for PC users, but I hear Picasa is good. Lightroom is very good; however, you have to be prepared to dole out $9.00/month.
8. Use the Rule of Thirds. Often when editing, I use the Rule of Thirds, which means that I slightly off-center the focal point of my image which makes it more eye-catching. For more on the Rule of Thirds, click here.
9. Learn something new. If you new to the SLR world, it's all about playing around with your camera. But as you try new things, if you are not getting the results you want, pop into a local camera shop and have them teach you one new specific thing while you look around at equipment. The other day, the shop owner showed me how to change the camera to "Aperture Priority." Blew. My. Mind. Where has that setting been all my life?!??!?! Also, tons of stuff online but sometimes a little overwhelming. It's amazing what your camera can do that you never thought it could!
**These photos were taken on a Nikon D7000 55-3000mm with the lowest aperture setting being f4.5, so apparently an ok lens but not amazing quality, I was told. BUT, I set it to "Aperture priority." This gave me the blurred background and big pop of colour from the leaves behind. FYI, it was a cloudy day and none of these photos were photo-shopped. That's the beauty of Aperture!!
It's amazing what your camera can do that you never thought it could!
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