Tips for photographing children

It’s official. Summer is definitely on the way! Family holidays are around the corner, with the promise of lots of together time and a break from the everyday.

Here are a few top tips on how to make the most of your family time and on photographing children. The summer holidays are a great opportunity to get some updated photographs of your kids.

Tips for photographing children

1) Always be ready with your camera.

If you have a DSLR camera, take it with you. You'll want to have the battery fully charged and memory card at the ready.

Holidays are a great time to practise photography and get to grips with the ins and outs of the manual controls of your camera.

Take advantage of the lovely natural light that we have over the summer, and click/shoot away!

2) Don’t expect too much of your little one

Be flexible. You may have a vision of a beautiful photograph you’d like to take in a perfect location, but toddlers are amazing at doing what they want, and not so great at doing exactly what you want them to do.

If they are doing something they love, the expressions will be a thousand times better, and taking pictures of them will be a lot more fun for both of you.

If they like climbing trees, let them climb trees.

3) Get down on their level

A mistake we often make when taking pictures of children is photographing them from above.

Don’t be afraid to get down on your hands and knee with your kids!

This means you can engage with them better and is also a brilliant angle for taking photographs.

Lie on the floor with them, play with them, be part of their game. And whatever you do, never ever ask them to smile!

Talk to them, blow a raspberry, tell them a joke, say a funny word…anything that will naturally produce a giggle.

4) Don’t forget the details

Capture the little things - the chubby little fingers, the eyelashes, toothless grins, they won’t last forever.

5) Plan ahead

If you really want to create some gorgeous stylish family portraits while you’re down at the beach, or up in the mountains, a little forethought goes a long way.

Think carefully about what colours to wear within your family - I always advise keeping it simple, and sticking to three colours spread across the group whether it’s 2 people or 25 people.



6) Make sure you're in the pictures too!

Mums! Ensure, at some point, you hand the camera to someone else. You need to be present in the family photos too!

7) Print your family photographs!

Pictures on a memory card or on a phone sometimes get lost in the digital abyss.

Don’t leave them languishing on a hard drive. Put your holiday pictures on the wall, have them on display around your home.

They will make you smile all through the winter months and beyond. I guarantee it!

My top tips for photographing children

Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m Andrea and I’ve been a professional photographer for 10 years, around the York, Harrogate and Leeds area.

Get in touch via this form or give me a call if you're interested in  stunning professional family photography, newborn photography or older baby photography.