for part III of our series with Canon, i wanted to talk a little bit about photographing children! like we mentioned in the first post for this series, we are still learning when it comes to knowing our camera, but if it isn’t already evidenced from this blog of ours, taking photos, and especially photos of our children, is kind of our favorite thing to do. ;)
i like to make a habit of taking my camera with me everywhere when i’m with the kids. i know it can be easy to only bring it out at ‘big events’ like a birthday, or holiday or special outing of some sort, but sometimes those best and most candid moments happen when you least expect them. one of the things i first noticed about Canon’s new EOS Rebel SL1 camera is how super small and light it is. it definitely makes bringing it out on a day to day basis much easier.
something that’s important to me is that my littles never feel forced to “smile” or “pose” for a photo. heaven help me if they look back on their childhood and are like, “ugh. my mom and her dumb camera!” there are plenty of great moments when i want to pull it out and start shooting, but it’s fun to enjoy moments with my children without a camera in hand, too. i also try my best to put my camera away if my littles are being shy or aren’t feeling it. i know they’ll want to ham it up later, so i’ll put it away and wait patiently. i have learned to keep an open mind when it comes to taking pictures of little ones. saying, “can you come sit here and hold this and smile?” has never worked at our house. but when we play and just have fun together as a family, letting our kids be kids and do what they want to do, that is when the real smiles come, and our best moments are captured.
we also like to take several photos at once over just one when taking photos of the kids. they blink and spin and turn and move so quickly, we’re more likely to get that perfect shot if we take a few! we also like to keep different angles in mind. we’ll crouch down to their level and really move around with them. they tend to move so fast that we end up moving quickly too! it’s a workout whenever we’re with them. ;)
^^^tiny feet! i’m such a sucker for my littles and their saltwater sandal tan lines.^^^
^^^this little chapter of E’s life where she insists on pigtails each day, it’s been one of my favorites.^^^
^^^ouuuuhhh!^^^
^^^this was one of those moments where the kids and i were playing together and they were crawling all over me. it might not have appeared as the most ideal moment to whip out the camera but my husband is smart and did anyway. these next few photos are so dear to me… with eleanor pulling on my shirt and both of them tackling me down… it’s moments like this where i feel most blessed. and so glad to have these moments documented.^^^
^^^a moment before she decided the bunch of grapes would now be her phone.^^^
^^^”helllooooooo?”^^^
what tips or tricks have you found helpful when taking photos of children?
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JOSH
JOSH