"Photography Tips" How to take cute photos of your baby

How to take cute photos of children? Children’s nature is innocence and happiness, full of the most primitive and pure human emotions and behaviors. Photographing children can not only leave memories of their growth, but also make them Adults can relive many childhood joys and relieve the increasingly heavy pressure of work and life. Below I have compiled children’s photography skills for your reference!

1. Basic knowledge and equipment preparation

1. Basic knowledge you need to know when photographing children

< p> Before photographing children, we need to understand some basic knowledge of photography. Of course, most of the friends who read this article must have certain photography foundations, such as how to determine the correct exposure and reasonable composition. I don’t need to explain more. explain. However, I still want to emphasize a few photography skills that are more relevant to photographing children. The first is the impact of aperture and shutter on the shooting effect. For example, a large aperture can make the depth of field shallower, and a high shutter speed can freeze motion. The second is the reasonable use and control of flash. We should understand the functions of different flash settings such as forced flash and slow flash synchronization, as well as when it is necessary to use flash for shooting and when it must not be used. In addition, there are manual white balance, manual focus and hyperfocal distance applications.

2. Preparation of equipment for photographing children

If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. To take pictures of children, of course you must first have a camera. Most families in cities now own traditional cameras. Compared with traditional cameras, digital cameras have very low shooting costs and the feature of "shoot and see", making them very suitable for children's photography. Let’s briefly talk about what kind of digital camera you should choose to photograph children. If you have enough money and enthusiasm, a SLR digital camera is of course the best choice. When equipping the lens, you must fully consider the conversion factor of the focal length of the SLR digital camera. A large aperture lens (mounted on the SLR digital camera) It becomes a standard mid-focus portrait lens) and an ultra-wide-angle zoom lens, which should be suitable for most shooting requirements. Of course, most friends will still choose consumer-grade digital cameras. When shooting children, it is recommended that you buy quasi-professional products with strong manual functions, large lens apertures and zoom ratios. Time lag and continuous shooting performance are also very important parameters, such as Fuji S602, Sony F717, Olympus C730, Minolta D7H, Panasonic FZ1, etc. are all currently cost-effective products and are also very suitable for children's photography. Of course, to take good photos of children, the choice of equipment is only one aspect, the human factor is decisive. I used the Kedak215, a point-and-shoot camera, and the Sanyo MZ2, a compact camera, to take a lot of interesting photos of children. Don’t be greedy for new things. Just With careful attention, even a thousand-yuan product can produce good children's photography.

2. Photographing children of all ages

Children of different ages have their own characteristics. In different periods, they not only have their own characteristics in terms of diet and education, but also have different characteristics when taking photos. Different techniques and approaches.

1. Inside the mother’s belly

Of course, we can’t take a photo of BB herself, but her mother’s big belly. Let the baby take a photo with her mother before she is born when she grows up. , is very meaningful.

If you have an acquaintance in the hospital, you can leave a color B-ultrasound image of the baby in the mother’s belly, which will definitely be of commemorative significance.

2. In the delivery room of the hospital

Babies are usually very ugly when they are born, but they are very memorable. Be sure to take a clear picture of the birth certificate on the baby.

The lighting conditions in the hospital are not very good, but babies’ eyes are fragile, so be careful not to use flash to take pictures of your baby. The high sensitivity and large aperture of the camera will play a big role in shooting in low light.

3. Before the full moon

Before the full moon, the baby spends most of the time in a small bed at home. The shooting conditions are better than those in the hospital, usually at noon when the light is best. When shooting, you can move BB's crib to the window to prevent the shutter from being too slow.

Before the full moon, little BB spends a lot of time sleeping every day. When you take pictures, he usually doesn’t bother to pay attention to you, but when he sleeps, he sometimes smiles. Of course, this is a scene that you can't miss if you stick to the BB.

During the confinement period, taking photos with your parents, little brothers and sisters, and grandparents is indispensable.

4. Before half a year old

A child changes a lot from the full moon to the first half year old. Seeing this, I secretly admire my wife for being able to sit on her own like magic. Woke up.

It will be very hard for a father during this period. His wife has not yet recovered, and there are children at home. During the cold night, when you are getting up to make milk, change diapers, and sing lullabies, don’t forget to take Pick up the camera, take photos of the babies, observe their ever-changing expressions and movements, share the joy of growth, and leave a record of their growth that only occurs once in a lifetime.

5. Before one year old

Children after half a year old have significantly more outdoor activities. Don’t forget to take photos of parent-child outings. When the weather is good, go for a walk and bask in the sun, which can increase resistance and absorb vitamin D. When taking photos outdoors, it is best not to let the baby and mother face the sun directly. You can use side lighting, backlighting or backlighting, and then use Use flash to fill in the light and take photos with a shiny background and natural expressions. Another biggest change for children during this period is that they begin to learn to walk.

6. Before the age of three

Children aged 1 to 3 are the most interesting subjects for photography. This little baby who grows up day by day begins to gradually understand some "personnel", but also It is very innocent and innocent, and we can do what we like and let it take photos with toys and animals. Children spend more and more time outdoors, which makes it easier for us to control light and compose pictures skillfully. When shooting during this period, try to use candid shots instead of staged shots.

7. Before the age of seven

Generally, after the age of three, the focus of life of children has changed greatly. In addition to being at home, they will spend more time in kindergarten. At this time, you can take more photos of activities in the kindergarten and photos with the children. Children in this period begin to gradually lose the innocence of childhood and become "mature". You can do some "posing" appropriately. You should seize the time and take more photos. Nowadays, children mature early. After entering elementary school, they may not be willing to be dad’s free little model.

3. Summary of children’s photography experience

1. Have enough love and patience

Love and patience are the basis for taking good photos of children. Children’s emotions The passive nature of their behavior and behavior makes it difficult for their attention to last, and they are difficult to capture. It is difficult for us to imagine "posing for photos" of children before the age of three. Children's feelings are keen and direct. You must really like children. If you want to take good children's photography, you must communicate with children attentively. On the other hand, children's expressions are ever-changing, their movements are always innocent, and they are natural performers. Most of the photos of children in the family should be taken in the form of snapshots. I am opposed to letting children go to photo studios to take so-called "children's portraits". Most of these photos are too old-fashioned or artificial.

2. There are taboos in children’s photography

Children’s photography itself is difficult, and there are many taboos among Chinese people. For example, you cannot take pictures of young children while they are sleeping. There is a saying that it will cause the children to have nightmares due to being frightened, especially the elderly. Of course, there is not much scientific reason for this. It is absolutely possible to film children while they are sleeping, as long as you are careful not to disturb the children. However, if there are elderly people present, especially your parents-in-law or parents-in-law, do not take pictures to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

But one thing we must pay attention to is the use of flash. From a medical point of view, the visual nervous system of a baby has not yet fully developed from birth to three years old, and strong light can cause eye diseases. adversely affect the development of the system. Therefore, when shooting, try to avoid using flash. It is best to shoot with natural light. Some point-and-shoot automatic cameras will automatically activate the flash when the light is poor, so be sure to pay attention. Older children can use a flash if necessary, but it is also best to use reflected fill light or add a soft light film in front of the flash.

3. Anything can be photographed at any time

What exactly can be photographed in children’s photography? In fact, in addition to conventional headshots and busts, all parts of the body can be photographed, such as small hands The hands and little feet are all worthy of taking photos as souvenirs.

A model’s style comes from training. Children should also be photographed from an early age, frequently, and continuously, so that they can develop the habit of seeing the camera naturally, without being artificial, and with a generous posture. The more you shoot, the more you can become a qualified professional family photographer. When photographing children, you should pay attention to the timing of shooting, because beautiful scenes are fleeting and allow children to relax and play to their heart's content, and the photos will be more natural and lively. Digital cameras do not have the pressure of consuming film, and they can take pictures at any time and in large quantities.

4. Change the shooting angle

Children’s photos record their growth experience and should be multi-dimensional and multi-directional. The "angle" here has two meanings. One is the shooting angle. There should be at least three angles when shooting. Shoot at eye level with the children, stand higher and shoot from above, squat down or even lie down and shoot with your back. Take as many shots as possible. Changes in the vertical angle also require changes in the shooting distance and the focal length of the lens. In addition to full-body or full-length portraits, there should also be close-ups and long shots. In addition to using medium-telephoto lenses, wide-angle lenses can also be used. Just like a movie, the more scene changes, the more "life" it will have.

On the other hand, the angles of children’s expressions should also be rich. Most of the photos of children taken by parents are all smiling, which is a bit monotonous and stiff. Children’s expressions are rich, recording their growth. We must record his joys, sorrows and joys, this is life. You can shoot those who are laughing, those who are crying, those who are angry, and those who are silent, in a daze, or making weird portraits.

Most of the photos of smiling people are ordinary, while a photo of someone doing something strange may remind the baby of a "story" when he grows up.

5. Make good use of the functions of digital cameras

Nowadays, digital cameras have more and more functions. We must make full use of their unique functions to enrich the fun of children's photography. For example, many of them have a fast continuous shooting function, which can help you capture extremely hilarious and precious pictures. You can use the macro function to take close-ups of certain parts of the child's body, or take pictures with a shallow depth of field effect. You can use manual white balance skillfully to take pictures with warm tones.

In addition, many cameras now have the function of shooting digital short films. You can use post-processing software to connect to the production and burn it to VCD, which is also very fun. You can also add voice annotations to the captured scenes, which is also very meaningful to use flexibly. After the shooting is completed, the digital photos can be processed and saved using a computer, or sent for development or printing.

Children’s photos in the family may not be the photos that other people like to see, but the many firsts in a baby’s life are very memorable and are also precious memories for parents in the future. Let me make a digression at the end of this article. After being a father for more than a year, in addition to the joy of taking photos of my daughter, it is also the hardship of raising children. Only when you raise children can you know the kindness of your parents. We young people really need to be filial to our parents. No matter how busy you are, you should go home often and don’t forget to let your children take photos with their grandparents.