Photography may sound easy but is not. While there is a lot of hard work involved in making the pictures look at their absolute best, a few tips and tricks can really help you a lot. If you don’t have enough knowledge and skills in capturing the best photos, you can never click the desired pictures.
To excel in professional photography, you have to make sure that the techniques you apply are perfect in every sense. When it comes to baby or toddler photography, there are some hacks that will help you in producing ultimate photos.
Professional tips for baby and toddler photography
To shoot high-quality baby and toddler pictures, follow these below-mentioned tips and be a successful baby photographer.
Choose clothes carefully
When you choose to click babies and toddlers, make sure their clothes are not distracting. Make them wear elegant clothes or else your pictures will go unnoticed. Professional, as well as beginner photographers, make this mistake quite often resulting in clicking unappealing photos. Because in baby and toddler photography, the main purpose is to show the baby to the audience so if you use too gaudy clothes, it will distract the audience.
Choose clothes toddler photography
Go for pastel colors and subtle design patterns so that the major focus remains on the baby only and all the other elements stay in the background. Make sure the picture looks soothing to the eyes and then only you can expect more audience to adore your work.
Click everyday
Babies are unaware of the cameras and they tend to change their expressions very often. However, to capture their expressions, click them every day. Also, because they are not aware, clicking their pictures on daily basis will make them familiar a little.
So whenever you click a picture the next time, they will respond better. Set up a suitable lighting environment including some soothing sounds to take high-quality baby and toddler images.
Click on their best time
Everyone has their own good and bad times and babies are no less. They also have their time when they feel good or low. However, when you decide to click the pictures, make sure the babies are in good mood. Clicking them in sad or lazy moments will do no good but bring out bad images. When everything is all set, make sure to create a fun atmosphere around the children so they can play and you click when they are happy.
You might not notice any visible change in their behavior but it will definitely help in photography as they will respond and pose better which will deliver stunning shots. Make them quite cheerful and happy if you want perfect pictures.
Have fun
Don’t create a stressful environment around the babies when you want to shoot the pictures. Since babies don’t know how to react to the camera, it is your duty to make the environment comfortable so that they can be good. Let their poses come out naturally and it will happen only if you create such an environment. The babies are unaware of the photography pressure, however, you should take them near the photography area so they can get familiar. If you are going to click toddlers, you can ask them to rehearse before you capture the pictures.
It will help you in clicking realistic and natural pictures whenever you want. When it comes to newborn babies, you can wait until they sleep and then click natural pictures.
Pets and kids
Clicking kids with pets is the best combination ever as both are quite cuddly. Make the kids or babies pose with pets as they are comfortable with each other and while they are playing, you can click the picture immediately. Because kids feel at home with pets, you should avail the opportunity and capture the best of the shot.
Also, the pets increase the overall appearance of the frame. Other than that, you can keep soft toys with babies and let them play along. This way you will get to click naturally beautiful pictures with toys like monkeys, dogs, any bird, cat, etc. As you know which toy your kid likes to play with, consider keeping that particular toy and manage to get superb shots.
Try try again
Clicking baby and toddler shots requires a great amount of patience. It is quite time-consuming and challenging because you cannot tell the babies to pose according to what you want. Of course, they don’t behave, act, react and respond according to anyone, they do everything in their own mood. However, while clicking, you will face a lot of issues that might freak you out. But when it comes to baby photography, you should never give up as patience is the most important thing.
Photography is not easy especially when you want to click on babies and toddlers. There will be times when you will be frustrated with so many shots and not even a single picture is appropriate. Keep on trying baby photography until you get the desired one. Moreover, you will succeed only when your portfolio is a little different from others and that will come when you will try harder.
Rule of thirds for baby and toddler photography
The rule of thirds is quite an important concept in photography. With the rule of thirds, you can enhance the overall appeal of the photos and when you are clicking baby pictures, this concept works wonders. Being an amateur, you might find it a little hard to adopt this method but once you get your hands on it, the results you get are stunning. Not only does it brings attention to the baby, but also increases the background appearance.
Avoid flash, use natural light
Use flash only when it is required because it doesn’t always deliver gorgeous shots. For baby photography, natural light is best because they are unaware of the clicks and sounds. When you click the picture with a flash, the light may make them blink their eyes resulting in bad images. With a flashlight, the babies get irritated so make sure to use natural light as much as you can along with using a few reflectors to further enhance the images.
Natural light gives natural exposure to the baby’s photos. However, set up your photography session in natural light and get the natural exposure needed for pictures.
Click when they don’t know
In order to capture natural images, it would be best if you click them when they are busy playing with someone else. Make them play with toys, pets, or anyone in the family and while they are doing that, you should do your work. As you know, babies never pose for a camera making it pretty hard for you to capture the perfect images.
However, click the kids unselfconsciously because it is the time best time when they can give you the best shots ever. While they are unconscious about your shooting goals, you will be able to capture them at their best.
Click as much as you can
Baby photos come out to be best when you click as much as possible. Clicking one picture and expecting the best shot is never possible with babies. Feel yourself lucky if you find that opportunity of getting the best image in a single click. When it is to baby and toddler photography, you have to keep clicking the camera until you get a satisfactory shot.
When you click hundreds of images, you can choose the right one in the post-processing phase. Keep the good ones and delete the bad ones from thousands of photographs.
Focus on the background
Yes, it is more important to focus on the baby in the foreground but the background is not to be avoided. The background is definitely a crucial element in every type of photography and for baby photography, it should be of a high level. To make the most out of baby photography, it would be best if you keep the background contrasting.
It will highlight the baby in the foreground and also the background will come into the notice of the viewers. If both the background and foreground are of the same color, the image will not look appealing. However, you should always keep the background of the opposite color as the foreground i.e. baby’s dress or props used.
Safety is crucial
Just because you want to get stunning shots doesn’t mean you can compromise on a baby’s safety. During photography, be very careful that you don’t put the baby in danger which can be life-threatening. Use the props and other things appropriately and carefully so you get good shots, as well as the baby, is safe. Make them wear comfortable clothes so they don’t get irritated and feel hurt. If they do, your pictures will look bad, however, show care toward the babies and manage to get gorgeous photography.
Conclusion
Follow these tips and tricks for baby and toddler photography if you have been struggling with getting perfect shots. Use a few or all of these tips and we promise you will get the desired shots.
