Photographing children can often be a challenge. I know this first hand, I’m a photographer and more often than not I find myself working entirely too hard to get a decent photo of my two.

Let them be kids
Start by putting them in a situation that will let them play and have fun. If they’re engaged in an activity the photos will be more natural and you’ll have a lot more fun taking them. For the image of my daughter Paige above we went out into a field on my uncle’s property in Lake Wenatchee. It was a beautiful fall day and I just let her and her brother run around the field picking wild flowers.

Use a long lens
Using a zoom lens lets you capture the action while filing the frame. If I had a short lens on my camera for the image of Paige above I wouldn’t have gotten that shot. She was running right towards me and would have run me over before I was able to get that composition. Try to fill your frame with your children and their activities. Using a long lens makes this easier to do. It also keeps you from directing.

Don’t Direct
About that whole direction thing.. Don’t do it. Let them play and don’t ask them to pose for the camera. Put them in the situation you want to photograph and let them interact with their surroundings, not you.

I do this with my couples all the time. You’ll come away with more natural photos that draw you into the image and actually give you the feeling of capturing a moment in time rather than looking at a posed ‘cheese’ type of portrait.

That should get you started. If you’d like more recommendations on gear or the technical aspects of photographing kids please feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll write a follow up article next week to answer your questions. That is, if anyone other than photographers and my mom read my blog….

Hi mom!