Some of the most rewarding photographs to take are unquestionably those of babies. However, they are without doubt one of the most challenging. Here are some tips and hints to aid you capture those valuable moments.
Babies tend to take a nap, eat, scream a lot and won’t pose in front of the camera but don’t let that put you off photographing them. Capturing that perfect moment, first step or treasured expression, when done right, will be memories for your to keep many years from now when they are grown up.
There is no doubt that taking photos of a infant is challenging. When they are 1st born, they will not move around very much and will be dead to the world most of the time (except for late at night – when they cry all the time). In this situation, it’s best to get up close and use a large aperture (f/1.8 ideally). This ensures that the focus of the image is on your little one. Aim to also take the photo from an out of the ordinary viewpoint and it will make your picture more attention-grabbing.
One of the most critical factors in photographing babies is persistence and the way you use child psychology when relating to your baby. Babies over six months may be shy at first and may take time to warm up. This is where child psychology comes in – you must try to play with your baby, or even turn into a child yourself while taking the photograph. Have fun together with your baby while you are taking photographs, make amusing faces and funny sounds. Don’t be too solemn.
When they are 7 months, they begin to get a little more tricky to photograph. They will want to move around a lot and remaining in the same position to pose for you is not possible. Take candid photos and try to have as many distractions around them as possible so that they don’t get bored. Focusing on their toy for example is far more fascinating than looking at your big digital camera lens.
Babies over a few months of age will be more alert and will have a lot more movement in them. Shooting fast is a requirement, and the infant will tire quickly. Make sure that you set your ISO at around 800 and that your digital camera on burst mode. This will make certain that you will capture their jerky actions better otherwise you will have a lot of blurred pictures.
Another remarkable tool that I have used in taking photos of infants is the flash. Ideally an adjustable bounce flash will help to diffuse the light and not only create a soft “daylight” feel to your photographs, but also assist to control the quantity of motion blur that is captured due to your child’s abrupt movements.
Watch out for the fingers – fingers in the mouth can be appealing but on most times they will block out your baby’s face.
These tricks have helped me to take some magical photos of my infant and I hope that it can benefit you too in capturing those joyful moments for you to return to many years from now.
Jon Chan is an photography nut. Want to read more Digital Photography Tips, then visit Jon Chan’s site and find more articles on Photography for Beginners.