Tips for parent-child photography

Holidays are a good time for parents to take their children out to play! Many of our classmates learn photography mainly for children, so how can parents of novice photographers shoot the most beautiful and lovely side of their children? The following are my tips for sharing parent-child photography with you. Welcome to read!

First, set up the camera.

(a) A mode or S/Tv mode works well.

If you have a basic understanding of photography, you will also know the usage of aperture priority in A mode and shutter priority in S/Tv mode. We can use these two modes more when shooting children, so the focus is on composition!

A mode aperture prerequisite: adjust the aperture and ISO by yourself, and the shutter is determined by the camera.

Prerequisites for shutter in S/Tv mode: Adjust the shutter and ISO by yourself, and the aperture is determined by the camera.

When using mode A, you can use the aperture to control the depth of field and the amount of light entering. The larger the aperture (such as f/2.8), the shallower the depth of field, the larger the aperture and the faster the shutter can be.

When using S/Tv-Mode, you can choose the shutter speed by yourself, such as1100s, which can ensure that the photos taken are clear and more useful when shooting active children!

Of course, if you have confidence in the full manual mode of M-mode, you can better grasp the exposure by using M-mode, because the metering function of the camera is not perfect (remember to use +/- EV for exposure compensation at this time)!

With A-Mode and +/-EV, the children and the colorful graffiti RV behind them can be accurately exposed!

(2) Make good use of continuous shooting.

Usually, the scenery photos are taken one by one, most of the time, but the children have a lot of actions and rich expressions. Using the continuous shooting function of the camera, you can capture the interesting side of the child more effectively! You can also use the AF-On key when using continuous shooting (pressing AF-On can keep the camera in focus all the time, and continuous shooting is not afraid of losing focus after composition. Please refer to this article for detailed teaching. It is more convenient to compose music!

Let the children jog on the beautiful grass, and then use "continuous shooting"+"continuous focus" to capture the natural side of the children!

(3) The shutter should not be too slow!

A common mistake made by parents of novice photographers is blurred photos, especially in indoor places such as shopping malls, where the shutter is often too slow. In addition to keeping a "safe shutter" at all times, students are advised to make the shutter faster than the safe value to make the photos clearer.

To effectively improve the shutter speed, you can use a large aperture or a higher ISO. The indoor shopping mall looks bright, but the light is not enough for the camera. In order to keep the shutter speed faster, ISO sometimes needs to use 800- 1600!

Please pay attention to the shutter speed when shooting in poor light (such as children standing in graffiti RV) and upgrade ISO if necessary!

(4) lens selection

Generally, the focal length of 50mm or 85mm can be used to shoot children, and most sets of mirrors will also include this focal length of 50mm, so it is applicable. If you have a high demand for photos, you can also buy a cheap large aperture fixed-focus lens of 50mm f/ 1.8 or 85mm f/ 1.8, which is very suitable for taking portraits. Large aperture is very useful for shallow depth of field and keeping ISO low!

Shooting composition skills

(1) Take a close-up.

In addition to shooting the exquisite decoration of Elements, you can also shoot more close-ups of children! Use telephoto lens, or shoot close to children, of course, with the surrounding environment (such as shooting outside the classic graffiti RV in the venue), in order to shoot a professional feeling!

Try shooting through the glass in the classic graffiti RV of the venue!

Although children will take up most of the photos when taking close-ups, we should also include some venue decorations, such as the following photos: children lying on the ground with beautiful internal patterns in the RV in the background will instantly enrich the photos!

(b) Quickly capture the interesting side of children.

Children always run around excitedly when they see interesting decorations and toys. When shooting, they should always have their cameras ready and take more snapshots. It doesn't matter if one or two photos are out of focus or blurred, but it can add more changes to the whole series of photos!

Get your camera ready at any time to quickly capture the cute side of your child!

Note that the aperture can sometimes be reduced (for example, f/4 or f/5.6) to make the depth of field wider, especially when using the "blind shot" technology (that is, shooting directly by feeling without looking at the viewfinder).

(3) Let the children move

At the element shooting scene, I saw many parents always tell their children to stand by and shoot one of the decorative rainbows. In fact, a better way is to let children walk more and explore different environments, because their expressions are the most abundant and natural when playing, so the chances of taking beautiful photos will be greatly increased!

Let children play more freely and show their vitality!

(4) Make good use of props

When shooting with children, you might as well bring some props, or make more use of the decoration of the scene environment as props to interact with children, so that the photos will change more and the children will laugh more happily with props!

Pay more attention to the surrounding props and decorations, which can add a lively feeling to the photos!

(5) Make better use of the natural light around you.

In order to take beautiful photos, students must pay more attention to the surrounding light. For example, on the shooting scene of Element, there will be beautiful natural light coming from smallpox. You can make more use of these natural lights without turning on the flash when shooting, so that the photos you take are easier to control the exposure and will be softer and more beautiful!

The place where the elements are decorated and displayed has bright smallpox and natural light shines in. At this time, children can lie on the grass and shoot, and the effect will be beautiful!

(6) shoot at the child's line of sight.

Children are not tall, and adults often shoot down at their own sight, making children "big heads and small feet." In fact, as long as they kneel down and stay in the child's sight when shooting, they can be more integrated into their world, feel the happiness of their children and take more natural photos!

When shooting, parents can sit on the ground and shoot at the level of their children's eyes, so that children can better integrate into their world!

(7) Take lovely photos with a fisheye lens.

If you have a fisheye lens, remember to use it! Using a fisheye lens, whether shooting up or down, can also make the photo have an exaggerated deformation effect. At this time, with children's interesting expressions and movements, it can definitely add a lovely feeling to the photo!

Fish-eye glasses can also let you shoot a wider environment, so children can put it in the middle of the photo!

Shoot with fisheye glasses!

(8) Shoot from different angles.

To leave beautiful photos for children, students can't just rely on a single composition. Of course, the classic "trisection" is very useful, but we can also use the surrounding environment or props as a "frame", or look for some "foreground" as a foil, and even shoot children's every move through decorations (such as graffiti RV windows), which can also make the photos more changeable.