Maybe you want to take the best baby pictures for a baby book or you want to enter your photos into a baby photo contest. Whatever your reasons are for wanting to capture your memories, you definitely want to make sure that the pictures you take are done at the best of your capability.
We’re going to talk about a few tips that you can apply to your picture-taking technique to get the best baby pictures!
Taking pictures of children can be extremely difficult—even for professionals. A kid’s movements are not easy to control and they often don’t understand your directions to “hold still” or “look at the camera.” Newborn baby photos are among some of the toughest snaps to get, as babies are highly unpredictable (think spitting up, chronically falling asleep, crying, etc.) and are harder to position into a portrait stance. Try the following to improve your chances of catching a better picture:
Focus – Most digital cameras today come with an automatic focus. When taking a picture, you may notice that some of your pictures come out blurry regardless of the fact that your camera should automatically focus. This usually happens when you haven’t given your camera enough time to focus. With babies it can be particularly difficult to wait those few seconds it may take to get your focus locked, but the picture will definitely come out much better.
Background – You are more likely to get a better picture if the background you’re using is plain (especially for portraits!). A cluttered background or one that has too many colors can be distracting to the eye. When taking a baby portrait, you obviously want the child to be the main focal point of the picture. If you are trying to take a baby’s photo, try to lay him/her on a plain blanket or prop them up against a neutral-colored wall. If your walls are all dark or patterned, you can tack a sheet or window shade to the wall. Also, a plain background will help your camera to lock a focus more quickly on the child.
Lighting – lighting is extremely important when taking a portrait. If you are able to, try to incorporate some soft natural light into the picture. If you are taking a photo outside, use a full flash as this will help to lighten shadows under the eyes and nose caused by the sun. Try to keep the subject out of the shadows that can be cast by anything from trees to toys. Also, perform a few tests to determine the range of your flash, which will allow you to estimate how far away you can be from the child while keeping the flash effective.
You might also get better results by dropping your camera down to the same level as the child. If your child is crawling and you take a photo from a standing position, the distance of the photo and the odd angle can take away from the overall quality. Just experiment with these tips until you get a feel for what works for you and your camera. Good luck!
