« How To Fly with a Young Child | Main | How to Spice Up Your Post-Kid Marriage (or Relationship) »
How To Take Great Photos Of Your Kids
Published 09.19.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (15)
By Angella Dykstra of Dutch Blitz
1. Use Whiskey
No, not the beverage; the word. If you try to make your kids smile by telling them to say cheese their smiles will look, well, cheesy. If you have them say "whiskey" (or "monkey" if you have an adverse reaction to whiskey), their smiles look more natural.
2. Shoot Them (Off-centered)
The technical term is "Rule Of Thirds", but the gist of it is this: you do not want them right smack in the middle of the frame. Move them to the right or left of center and you will have a shot that is instantly better.
3. Fill The Frame
If you are hoping to capture a good portrait of your child, their feet do not need to be included. Fill a large portion of the frame with their face. To get an even more dynamic shot, crop out the top part of their head.
4. Catch Them When They Aren't Looking
We all seem to be programmed that the best shots are the ones where our child is looking at the camera, smiling the perfect smile, and showing the world how adorable they are. Sometimes, however, a great photo of them occurs when they are not even aware that you are snapping their photo.
5. Break All Of The Rules
Now that I have told you the above four tips, I am going to tell you to ignore them every once in awhile. Try different angles, different perspectives, different crops. You may end up with a photo that captures the true essence of you child.
- Follow Us!
Via RSS Feed- Via Email
- On Twitter
- On Facebook
- Recent Posts
- How to Prepare for Your Newborn's First Pediatrician's Appointment
- How To Care For Your Child's Teeth Like a Pro
- How To Navigate the Supermarket Like a Nutritionist
- How To Plan Parties with Guests who have Allergies
- How to Trick or Treat Safely
- Categories
- Ages
- Animals
- Beauty
- Books
- Caregiving
- College
- Food
- Health
- Holidays
- Home & Garden
- Money Matters
- New Mom
- Offbeat
- Organization
- Parties
- Photography
- Play
- Pregnancy
- Relationships
- Safety
- School
- Shopping
- Travel
- Contributors
- A Girl & A Boy
- Bessie.Viola
- Busy Mom
- Cool Mom Picks
- Chookooloonks
- Desperately Seeking Sanity
- Doobleh-vay
- Dutch Blitz
- Fairly Odd Mother
- Foodmomiac
- Gray Matter Matters
- Green Mom Finds
- Her Bad Mother
- Hola Isabel
- I Pretty Much Hate Everything
- Issas Crazy World
- Jennifer Graf Groneberg
- Justice Fergie
- Looky, Daddy!
- Mamalogues
- Meagan Francis
- Miss Britt
- Miss Zoot
- Motherhood Uncensored
- Notes To Self
- Nothing But Bonfires
- Oh My Stinkin' Heck
- Peppers and Pollywogs
- Rookie Moms
- Sarah Wagner Yost
- Suburban Turmoil
- Table4Five
- The Blythe Spirit
- The Fabulous Miss S
- The Naked Ledger
- Three Out of Seven
- To Think Is To Create
- Today's Moms
- Uppercase Woman
- Woulda Coulda Shoulda
- Write. Edit. Repeat.
- Archives
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
Most Popular
1) How To Fly with a Young Child
2) How To Be A Cool Twilight Mom
3) How to Deal with Your Mother-In-Law Talking Smack
4) How to Introduce Music to Your Child
5) How To Take Great Photos Of Your Kids
About this column
Could there really be a guide to everything? And, in 5 simple steps? Nope. But, there are definitely fun and simple ways to live life with your family.
The Alpha Mom Guide to Everything (in 5 simple steps) is a contribution-based column, reflecting the voices of parents and non-parents who love children. We will cover lots of topics in the initial months and will continue to be introducing more. You will find that our guide is easy to understand.
1- it's in 5 easy steps
2- it's subjective, but accurate
3- it's useful
We are looking for submissions, so if you're interested please contact us first at contact@alphamom.com. We already have a dozens in the queue ready to be launched over the next few months and don't want to duplicate efforts.
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (15):
Elizabeth said:
Thank you for the great tips! Number 5 is my favorite. All my favorite pics of Eli are the non traditional ones where I just took a chance.
I love each and every one of these pictures! You are very talented, lady.
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:24
Leah said:
As soon as I saw the title of this post, I just KNEW you'd be writing it! Hooray! Great tips, great photos, and great kids, as per usual.
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:54
Belindalouwho said:
Great post on photo tips! ...I always wondered why the kids had the most goofiest of smiles, and now I know! They've been saying "cheese" since birth, for goodness sake! From now on, it's all hard liquor baby!
Posted on September 19, 2008 13:00
Don Mills Diva said:
Awesome tips and beautiful photos!
Thanks.
Posted on September 19, 2008 13:25
JennyL said:
Love the "whiskey" tip! Thanks Angella!
Posted on September 19, 2008 13:50
Nothing But Bonfires said:
Love this! Wonder if I can apply it to taking pictures of my cats as well...
Posted on September 19, 2008 15:30
Elizabeth said:
re: #3- I have such a hard time with cropping, it's good to know that it's okay to cut off the tops of the heads sometimes :) These are really good tips!
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:07
rachel said:
Wonderful tips and shots. These seem so easy, I can't wait to get started!
Posted on September 19, 2008 17:17
Carolyn said:
Way to go Angella! You rocked it. Great tips all.
Posted on September 19, 2008 17:40
Moose said:
Why, oh why, did I miss the opportunity at BlogHer to ask you to teach me how to use my camera? My pictures always look like I handed my camera to an inebriated orangutan. I suppose such a demand might have been rude upon first meeting, but you do rock the photos.
Posted on September 19, 2008 19:12
The Over-Thinker said:
Another reason to love Whiskey :)
Thanks for the great tips, Angella. As always, your photos are too good for words. Love them!
Posted on September 19, 2008 20:24
monstergirlee said:
I love the whiskey idea - its really tough to get my son to do a normal smile these days, maybe this will help.
Thanks for the tips Angella. You are such an amazing photographer - yay!
Posted on September 19, 2008 23:19
metalia said:
YAY! Awesome tips...not that I'm surprised. :)
Posted on September 21, 2008 16:43
Domestic Extraordinaire said:
Very cool. I always have the kids say Merry Christmas....but I love the Monkey or Whiskey. I can just picture my teenager's face when I ask her to say whiskey...LOL.
Posted on September 22, 2008 12:29
LuluMom said:
Great tips all......I learned from my photographer husband years ago, get in there, down to their level, lose the chain link fence (or whatever) in the background, shoot fast, don't make them hold a pose or for heaven's sake, don't make them hold a smile for longer than a blink.
So worth it for the best shots.
Posted on September 29, 2008 17:32