Tips for Taking Portraits of Children at Home | Digital Scrapbooking ...

by Stacey Mann

I love, love, love pictures of my kids. What mom doesn?t, right?

I like to take pictures for most major holidays (birthday Christmas, Valentine?s Day, Easter, St. Patrick?s Day, , and July 4th), in hopes someday I will scrap them, but most of the time they don?t get further than Facebook. Maybe someday, when they are older I will get ?caught up.? I doubt it though.

Being a frugal mom, its not always practical to go to a photo studio or hire a professional photographer, especially when I them several times every year. You never know if they are going to be having a ?good moment? during that short amount of time allotted for your session. And besides, I have a nice DSLR (which might have cost a little more than several photo sessions, lol).

My Set-Up

So I bought an inexpensive backdrop stand from Ebay.com, for under $50 I believe. Alternatively, you can make your own with PVC pipe as explained in this article. Then I bought several pieces of neutral colored fabric from the thrift store. One white, one black, and some beiges. Sheets or curtains can work well. And I got some clamps like these to attach the fabric to the stand.

In the morning when the light is good in our living room, and the children are still happy, I bring in the backdrop and adjust it, add a few props from around the house, and grab my camera. A tripod comes in handy too, especially if you want the whole family in the photo.

Tips

• I usually put their favorite show on the TV so they are happy and distracted. They can see it from where they need to sit for me to get the shot.
• Snacks (before they get dressed in their picture-taking clothes) are a good idea.
• Keep the sessions short, especially for little ones. Do 10-15 minutes at a time. Give the child a chance to play and check your photos, then you can come back and do another round if you didn?t get what you want the first time.
• Use natural light. Position yourself near a large window, or ours is by a sliding glass door.
• Turn off the flash if possible.
• Take pictures from different angles. Lay on the floor, stand up high and shoot down, and take some at their eye level.
• If they want to hold a favorite toy or bottle, that is OK. Take close ups of their faces and crop out the parts you don?t want.

The Results

I am just an amateur mom-tographer, but some of the photos I have taken at home are my favorite ones, better than the pricey studio pictures. Here is one I took today in my living room with the setup I described, for my daughter?s third birthday:

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Source: http://digitalscrapbookpages.com/takingportraitsofchildrenathome/

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