One of my favorite subjects to photograph is children. Who can say if it's simply because I've gained more experience with child subjects in the last couple years? Or because I've been working as a nanny for a while? Or because I love a near impossible challenge like getting two toddlers in one frame with zero tears? Whether you're a professional photographer, a hobbyist, or a parent, you know getting a decent picture of a young child is indeed challenging, if not maddening. Now, baby-babies are somewhat of an exception because they're immobile, but one of the first things I learned about photographing children is patience. I usually need to take 20 pictures to get one
decent photo, 50 pictures to get one
good photo, and 80-100 pictures to get one
great photo. For instance, I took
weeks of pictures to get 12 good ones to display at my senior art show in college. There may be two or three that I consider great, but I've learned a lot since then. (I was a graphic design major and never took a single photography class in college because I wanted to keep photography a hobby that I could enjoy,
but I really wanted to do photography for my senior show,
so I went with
Digital Black and White Child Photography.)
Here are the photos I displayed in my senior show:
Aren't they beautiful kids? I got to be a nanny to the babies (in case you didn't notice, there are
three!) The other kids are a few of my cousins, who were willing, cooperative, lovely models--and I was very thankful.
I'm not writing this blog just to show off...hehe. I want to share some tips and tricks that I've learned about photographing children. In the last year I've been fortunate that a couple of my cousins asked me to photograph their kids, and I was chasing TWINS for over a year (more victims from my days as a nanny).
