8 Ways to Take Better Photos of your Children

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1. Don't let them say "CHEESE" ever. I'm not even kidding, get this word out of your life (except when you're making sandwiches on whole wheat to serve with tomato soup and maybe some goldfish). I have no idea who thought this was a good word for kids to say, or why, but don't ever use it... Silly words work great, I'm a fan of 'pickles', I know, who'd of thunk? but it's other, and it makes them stop thinking about trying to smile... A friend of mine used 'fuzzy pickles' but that's a little disturbing to me, makes me think they're moldy! We all have silly sayings and inside jokes in our families that work fabulously, you can even say the same thing every time (although I think it's better to change), make something up, take something from Dr. Seuss, a line from a movie, Shel Silverstein...

2. Get closer. Those beautiful faces, those gorgeous eyes, they should fill the frame once in a while, more often than not even... My favorite photos of both my daughter, and my dog, are ones where there is no background at all, just those sweet faces...

3. Let them be themselves. When my daughter was really little she had these great froggy boots, and she never wanted to take them off, not even for the bath! We'd dress her in these darling little outfits, and she'd go get the crazy boots. It's who she was. I, as an artist, embraced that, and have such fun images of her in that stage. Often, as parents, we think they should be dressed a certain way, or look or act a certain way, but let them be themselves and your portraits will shine.

4. Let them play. Don't make it all hard work. I know sometimes we want a perfect photo to send to grandparents, or for a special occasion, but often, if you let them play and be silly, dance around, dress up, twirl, play with a hula hoop, you get the photos you want during, or after the silliness... Last summer I had a few of the neighborhood kids in my yard, I took photos of them squirting me with those super-soaker water guns while I was behind my storm door (yes, there is value to being slow to change your storm doors!). The photos are such fun, and the expressions on the kids are amazing...

5. which continues into... Let them make faces. I don't think I've ever met a child who can make lots of different goofy faces and not burst into peals of laughter at some point. So you get the great smile, and all of those fun silly faces to create a super panel picture out of, or cards to send to cheer a friend or relative up...

6. Use natural light. Indoors use the window or doorway, outdoors get into the shade, you'll get more natural photos if you use more natural lighting...

7. Don't just take one photo. They're kids, they move, they blink, they are quick... take a few images if you want to be sure you've got it... That's probably one of the greatest features of this digital age, you can capture a bunch of pictures, and just print the one you love, how great is that?

8. Surprise them. The element of surprise is the most important tool in my arsenal. Children don't expect adults to talk in funny voices, burst into a silly song, wear washed up horseshoe crab shells on their head, stick shells on their nose or wear just about anything as a hat... It's so easy to catch them by surprise, imagine if dad took off his shoe and put it on his ear, or mom started dancing a jig (yes, this is while they're young, and most likely in the privacy of your backyard, but imagine the possibilities...). They're only young once, keep all of those precious memories safe.