5 Tips to Taking Better Pictures of Your Kids

Holly and I (Heather) used to talk about starting our own photography business together. We really enjoy taking pictures and both find a lot of joy in capturing special moments of our friends and family. We have learned a lot about photography and wanted to share a few simple ways to improve the quality of the pictures you take of your kids.

1. Use natural light

Turn off the lights in your house and open the blinds. If you use natural light you will notice your pictures look less yellow and your kids look more like themselves. This will also help with a lot of the problems you may get with shadows in your photos.

FLUORESCENT LIGHT (light on in room, blinds closed) VS. NATURAL LIGHT (light off in room, blinds open)

2. Don't force a pose

All to often we pull out the camera with the perfect shot envision in our mind, we try so hard to capture the shot we've envisioned that we miss the real one.  If your kids don't want to pose how you envisioned them don't force it.  Let them laugh, move, be themselves and have fun capturing them as they are.

3. Get on their level

Get on your kids level, this will help you interact with them and help you capture a better looking photo of their faces rather then a birds eye view of them. 

4. Focus

Its so easy to grab the camera and take a quick shot and not even realize its blurry and unusable until months later when it's posted online or printed. Take an extra moment to focus in on your child's eyes. 

5. Watch your background 

Watch for clutter or distractions in the background, you want the child you are photographing to be your focus. Sometimes the background you create can be the distraction, keep it simple. 

I really like my adjustable photography background, it has helped me create a professional looking backdrop.  It folds up and fits into a small bag, I like this because I don't have to dedicate a large portion of space to photography but can set it up when and where I choose. I ordered my stand through YESCOMUSA and was pleased with the fast delivery time and quality product.