The Ultimate Guide To Taking Awesome Photos Of Your Kids | Julie Grant Photography

Everyday your instagram and facebook pages are filled with gorgeous images that your friends have taken of their children. Why do yours never look like that? Why are yours always dark and out of focus? Well, fear no more. By the end of this guide you will be armed with 10 fantastic tips that will have you shooting like a pro!

Get Closer
When you stand in one place and then zoom in the quality of the photograph becomes diluted and pixelated and quite often blurred. Move your feet!! Moving closer to your subject will get all that lovely detail in the frame giving you a crisper and sharper subject.

2. Stop trying to capture forced smiles.

You spend 20 minutes trying to get your child to shout “cheese” whilst looking into the camera and you are left with an awkward, unnatural smile; you know the one I mean (think of the last school photo you saw), sometimes, it’s nice to capture the tears, the tantrum or even the concentration…

3. Get down to their level.

Yes, you might need to lie on the floor to do this, but it is honestly so worthwhile. No more tops of heads - you want to see their whole face whilst they are in a natural comfortable position.

By doing this you also gets lots of lovely foreground making for a dreamy photograph.

4. Use the Rule of thirds

If you divide your frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically, it is naturally pleasing to the eye to have the focal point sitting on one of those lines. A lot of mobile phones have the option to add a grid to the live view. When framing your photograph try and ensure that your subject sits on one of the lines. Or even better, get their eye where 2 lines intercept.

5. Take Candids

When your child is playing take photos of them just being themselves. This way you’ll preserve those precious memories that would otherwise be forgotten. I often have my camera to hand and photograph my children when they are not aware of it. A natural photograph is a lovely way of story telling…

6. Avoid low light

Even the most expensive cameras struggle to capture a sharp image if the light is too low. When indoors, try to capture your child with your back to the window and them facing towards it. You’ll get a lovely flattering light.

Even the dirty nose and chin don’t look so bad when lit from the front!

7. Embrace negative space

Don’t be afraid to have an area in your photograph with nothing in it. This is visually appealing and places all focus on the subject.

8. Keep the background clutter free

When you take your photograph just have a quick look round - you don’t want to have that perfect photograph ruined by a litter bin, a mug in the foreground or toys strewn all over the floor.

By standing Ellie in front of the wall there are no nasty distractions in the background. There was a busy road behind Ellie - i only needed to move a couple of feet and this would have been in my image.

9. Capture the small details

Yes, they really were that tiny once. But you won’t remember and you’ll have nothing to gauge it against. So go ahead, photograph their fingers, their toes and the back of their hair. These are all details that you will forget over time but as soon as you see them in a photograph, the memories will come flooding back.

10. Use Reflections

Reflections can add a really interesting dimension to your photographs, whether you use a puddle, a window or even a mirror. They often have the added benefit of bouncing additional light onto the subject.