Detailed explanation of photographic skills for recording baby's growth

When taking pictures of children, you should be very careful to ensure that every photo becomes the best portrayal of childhood. According to this requirement, you should not only understand children's psychology, but also master photography skills; Only by combining the two can we achieve our goal successfully.

Capture natural expressions.

The success of taking pictures of children lies in capturing their natural expressions. Almost all baby photos have this pure quality. Babies take pictures in their daily life without realizing the existence of cameras. But when children are 4-5 years old, when the camera lens is aimed at them, their reaction is extremely sensitive, and their natural curiosity is often replaced by artificial gestures and expressions. In children's photos, this kind of posturing is really everywhere. Only by pressing the shutter and taking away the camera will the child return to the naive nature.

Most children don't pose as required. Specifying a child to pose in a certain position always leads to little interest. Some older children, eager to take pictures, often go too far because they want to suit you as much as possible. Other children may not be interested in posing, but just want to finish it quickly. If you want to correct the child's above reaction, the result is generally worse. Therefore, in addition to taking pictures of models, it is forbidden to guide children to pose.

However, if a child likes an action he chooses, you can capture innocence without any posture guidance. Let children's activities go with the flow, and there will be many opportunities to take pictures, which is far better than the scenes that may have to be painstakingly designed. Those unexpected scenes that are not well organized make it possible for you to take extraordinary photos. We should not try to manipulate children, but should capture the fleeting expressions and passing scenes of objects.

Method of taking a series of group photos

Take pictures of children old enough to take pictures. You can choose some activities that children like, such as listening to stories before going to bed, playing in the swimming pool and so on. Then, the idea is to show the activity from beginning to end with a few photos. This is the way to take a series of group photos. You can also use this method if you only need to take a single photo at the end of the activity. From the beginning of the activity, let the children play as much as they want; Don't design the next move in advance, and then let the children follow. Shooting should also be synchronized with the start of the activity, so that taking pictures can also become an integral part of the activity. Taking a group of photos allows you to get a group of photos with story lines, and the most attractive photos can also be used as excellent single photos.

This series of group photos should show the whole process of activities. The first photo shows the scene, the other photos show the progress of the activity, and the last photo shows the end of the activity. The first photo should show the children (or a group of children) and the materials used in their main toys or games in detail, and point out the place where the activity is held. The background must be simple and coordinated with the shooting activities. The next photo can be a close-up, especially a close-up of facial expressions. Don't leave the camera outside when the activity reaches its climax. The last photo shows the end of the activity and completes the story.

Get a chance to take pictures.

Everything a child does except sleep is a new adventure in countless childhood experiences. Please pay attention to the colorful activities in children's daily life, which may be suitable for taking a series of photos. Such a scene should be shown immediately, because accidental discoveries are often difficult to recall afterwards.

Most children will repeat their favorite activities, which is the time to take pictures. However, you don't have to limit the opportunity to take pictures to scenes that will appear repeatedly. Gifts can be used to arouse children's interest, stimulate their active nature as much as possible and create new opportunities. For example, for a girl who likes art, if you give her a set of paintings, there will be a scene where a little painter is taking pictures for you. He can also send a pumpkin to a boy, and maybe take a group of photos of carving Christmas pumpkin lanterns.

Make all the preparations for shooting before giving gifts. Children are most excited when they see gifts for the first time, which is a good time to take a full set of photos. The second and third use of gifts will reduce children's interest. Although photos can be taken at this time, the child's excitement is far lower than the reaction when he first sees the gift.

Some scenes are so fleeting that you can't take all the photos you want. Therefore, you must try to recreate the same scene again. You send birthday cakes to the same child three times in three days, and you can be a great success every time. The cream on the cake rarely loses its appeal!

If the camera is allowed to "participate" in children's games, then in children's minds, taking pictures is associated with playing. After that, older children will be welcome to take pictures. However, you should also try to get children's further cooperation. Being a photography model should be paid regardless of age. You should reward your little model as usual. After taking the last photo, give the child some small rewards immediately, such as buying a fast food, giving a small toy or a picture book. If you always give rewards after taking pictures, then taking pictures will definitely become a very pleasant thing. In this way, the child will adopt a good cooperative attitude next time he shoots. Of course, if you plan to sell or publish these photos, it is necessary to make some arrangements with your child's parents or guardians, including signing a model consent form.

Ask the assistant to cooperate with the work

Having a happy and lively child is the first condition for taking pictures of excellent children. But if you don't pay attention to some details, it may also damage the perfection of the photo. Asking assistants to cooperate with the work is of great benefit to prevent and correct many such problems, so that photographers can concentrate on sketching a perfect picture as much as possible, or seize the opportunity and seize the fleeting action. Children's mothers can often provide this kind of help, such as sorting out the messy locks of their children's hair and smoothing the wrinkles of their clothes. If she is photographing a baby, she can also do many necessary things. If you have a regular assistant who is familiar with your working methods, your work efficiency will be higher.

At the stage of your official shooting, the assistant should stand next to you, preferably a little closer. If two people are far apart and both are moving, it becomes a distraction. When the child feels bored or uncomfortable, you can ask the assistant to make gestures behind his back, such as imitating the clown's movements, picking up something and pretending to knock your head. In this way, sometimes a happy expression will be aroused. However, excessive funny and eccentric actions should be used with caution; Only when the child is completely unresponsive and you feel desperate can you use it.

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It is often difficult to get enough lighting when taking pictures of children under uncontrollable conditions. Outdoor, if the sun shines from the back of the main body, you can arrange a reflector or flash as an auxiliary light source next to the camera, which can show the face well. Backlight can distinguish the subject from the background, which is especially important for children with dark hair, because dark hair can easily be mixed with dark background or bush background.

The electronic flash with fast power supply is also an excellent auxiliary light source for outdoor photography. Whether you use an ordinary mirror or a temporary mirror, you can observe the intensity of reflected light at the shadow of the object with your eyes. Fast digital camera with reflector focusing plane are particularly useful. Because it is necessary to freeze the children's play with a very high shutter speed, the flash can't keep up with the focal plane shutter camera with such a fast speed, so it is necessary to use a reflector to provide the necessary lighting. The room is illuminated by reflective flash lamp, with soft and uniform light, natural light feeling and wide lighting range. Using a weak auxiliary flash on or near the camera can display the child's eye light.

But you have to test to determine the correct exposure time of the reflective flash in the actual shooting environment. Don't forget to record the positions of lights, cameras and subjects, the size of the lens aperture, and other important situations. It would be better if all the above details were written down before exposure. You can draw a sketch of the shooting location, indicating the distance between points and the height of lamps. When you develop the film and study it, you will be surprised: you have forgotten a lot.

The diffused light formed by the reflection of the flash lamp is soft to the touch and can well reflect the characteristics of children. However, you may also want photos with rich details and strong texture. This performance can be achieved by using direct flash memory. In order to make the effect better, at least two lights should be used: one is the main light, which is arranged away from the camera; The other lamp is used as an auxiliary lamp and placed on or near the camera. The triangular lighting scheme formed by these two lamps avoids the shortcomings of thick shadow and flat light caused by only one light source near the camera. The built-in flash of the camera can be used to trigger the driving lighting installed at a certain distance. This kind of driving flash without wiring can be used as the main light source for external illumination of the camera, and the built-in flash can be used as the auxiliary light source. The same lighting arrangement can also be made for electronic flashlights with double lamp heads. The strongest light in the external light source of the camera should be placed in the direction facing the child. If the child fails to face the predetermined strong light position, then the shadow formed should be supplemented by appropriate lighting.

Shooting experience

Shoot things that belong to children. Tell your children that you want to take pictures of their dolls, plush toys, building blocks or sandcastles. Do you want to remind them at the same time that you will take pictures of them? If children think you are photographing what they have, their expressions will look natural even if they are photographed. You can arrange a birthday celebration for your children's favorite dolls and invite them to attend. You know, dolls also have birthdays.

Make a flash in advance. Some younger children often smile in surprise at the flash after the camera presses the shutter. If you observe that the child is shocked by the flash, you can prepare a manual flash, flash it first, and shoot it with regular light as soon as the child's expression reacts.

See the world through children's eyes. Lower the camera to the child's eye level or lower. In the eyes of children (especially toddlers), they are surrounded by a world of behemoths and giants. Taking pictures from a lower perspective is a bit like seeing the world with children's eyes. You can also film children's difficulties, such as how to deal with scary big guys around you, such as having difficulty climbing chairs and so on.

Children feel most relaxed and comfortable in the comfort zone of their families or in familiar environments, and can take good photos in these places. However, as long as you provide interesting entertainment for your children, you can take pictures of them anywhere. When children play, they no longer pay attention to their surroundings, even in unfamiliar environments. Some professional photographers use the so-called "tracking shooting" technology to take portraits of children. They set up several playgrounds in the well-lit studio, where children can play freely and wait for the opportunity to press the shutter. As long as you take pictures according to your child's nature, you can capture vivid charm at home or outside.