How to Take Better Photos of Your Kids

Since starting this blog, I've been getting several questions about cameras, how to take better photos etc, so I thought today I would give you a few tips on how to take better photos of your children. I will have another post soon answering some questions about cameras lenses etc.

1. Keep Your Camera Out Where it is Accessable

I keep my camera out on my desk or a bookshelf in our living room. That way when Lyla is doing something cute I can grab it quick and capture the moment. When you leave your camera in the camera bag in a closet somewhere it feels like too much work to get it out in time. I have so many more photos of Lyla because of this tip.

2. Get Closer

Adam and I always laugh whenever we ask someone to take a picture of us when we are on vacation or out in public because people take photos so far a way usually. We look at the picture and say, "Can you get closer." And sometimes we have to ask again. You want your pictures to be mostly of your children and not a ton of background.

3. Get Down on Their Level


So often people take pictures of kids when they are standing over the child and because of that you miss the more natural and candid photos.

Take this picture of Lyla for example. She is playing on the ground. In order to get this picture I think I was laying down on my stomach or at least sitting on the ground.

4. Learn About Your Camera

So many people spend hundreds of dollars on a camera but don't take the time to really learn how to use it. If you have a Digital SLR spend some time learning to use it or take a class. If you live in the Twin Cities National Camera has a great class for $40 and if you buy your camera there you get a free class. It's actually the class that really helped me understand things like Aperature, Shutter Speed, and ISO. Three things that are very important to understand. I'll save that for another post though. A few years ago Adam and I took a trip to Italy. We were spend a few thousand dollars on our trip but we wondered if we reallly needed to buy a guide book. Let's just say that the Rick Steve's book we bought of Italy basically helped us make every decision for our trip. We laughed later that we didn't want to spend $20 on a book for an expensive vacation. I think spending a little money to learn how to use your camera is kind of the same thing.

5. Take Lots of Pictures of the Same Thing

People always laugh when they watch me take photos because I snap alot of pictures of the same scene. I do this because you never know when people are going to have the perfect expression or when the light will hit someones face just perfect. I did a one year old photo shoot and I took about 300 photos in 30 minutes. After going through them on my computer I only kept 30 of them. That goes to show you how many photos I took that I deleted.

In my next post I'll be sharing some tips on how to use your camera and how to better understand exposure.