Digital Photography’s Finer Points - Part 3

Our first two installments covered the “rule of thirds” and “depth of field”. Today we’re going to talk about photographing children. Most people love to look at pictures of kids having fun and doing cute kid stuff. The method you use to photograph them will make the difference between exciting and mediocre pictures.

Children that are still crawling or just able to walk are a real challenge to the photographer. At just the right moment, they’ll move and a potentially great picture opportunity is gone in a blink. A tip to counter this is to try to anticipate where the little rascal will be in the next 10 seconds and prepare for that shot. This trick can work for older children too. Frame the spot and be prepared to take the picture when they enter.

Do you know what the most common flaw is in children’s pictures? Blurry pictures are in second place. The number one mistake is shooting down on a child. A camera that’s held 6 feet high aimed down at a child has an unpleasant perspective. Your children’s pictures will improve 100% once you bend those knees and get eye to eye with junior. You’ll also eliminate the ugly shadow your flash creates under the child.

Since kids move so fast, blurry pictures are commonplace. A flash indoors is a requirement if the child is not seated. A tripod helps tremendously too. A professional photographer uses a tripod when taking children’s pictures…even outside in bright sunshine. Keep in mind that it cost you nothing to take a bunch of pictures and store them on a memory card. You can’t over do it. Just remember to delete all the blurry ones before you share them with friends and family.

On the subject of sharing pictures of children; put your best shots up for others to view. We all know that your Grandson or Granddaughter is the best in the world, so only show your best photographs of them. Weed out every “head turn”, blurry or “half a face” picture you took. You’ll have your family begging for more when you take these simple steps.

The more you learn to use your digital camera properly, the more ambitious you’ll become with it. For some opportunities with your camera, send an email to me at mikeraba@live.com.