Pictures of children...

Its not easy! Lets face it, us who decide that we love to take pictures of children are crazy! We are glutens for punishment! We all have different styles, some studio and others more candid (me). Here are some tips I have picked up in my photo taking hits and misses!

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Do the group photos first thing, moments after you walk in and say hi because these kids are going to get sick of you very quickly. Especially around two years old to five years old. Be the nicest person on the planet with a lot of treats. Kids a lot of times have nervous things they do, like the oldest girl in this photo was putting her hand in her mouth so I would say "Can you hold your sisters hand please, wow your such a good big sister!" Under no circumstance should you say something like "Why are your hands in your mouth, put them down!!" this will not help, I promise you! They will not be smiling in every group picture, this first picture is the very first picture I took, they got progressively less interested in me by every snap.

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Individual pictures, these are fun! You can learn each personality and go with it. Play with these kids and love on them, that's the only way you will get pictures of them being comfortable. There will be one that you are going to get pictures playing and that's the only way he/she isn't crying. That's OK, the parent understands, they were there. Don't stress out then the parent is going to stress out, then the kid will have a melt down! FACT!

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Do some artsy ones, I LOVE using the wedding rings on a sleeping baby, if I can, I will do it at every single photo shoot I do. There is no reason to not give a parent this beautiful picture! This is the perfect time to use your 50MM lens!

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Catch Moments! They are the best pictures!

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Something I have learned is that editing is as important as the actual picture taking. You can take a picture that is mediocre to the point of going into the deleted pile and edit it to be one of the parents favorite pictures because often these pictures are the ones that the kids are being themselves the most. If it is a little blurry clarify it a bit, play with the colors because a color that is under exposed and lifeless can become a beautiful black and white!

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The finished product is going to look different from your portfolio of the shoot. Obviously the portfolio is going to have all your best shots. The CD you give the parents is going to be filled with TONS of pictures of the day. I have learned that they want to see the ones that are maybe a bit blurry if its funny, and maybe if the kid is doing the tongue thing but her eyes look beautiful, keep it, its OK, the parents want it. If the picture is down right ugly get rid of the evidence, that's just rule number one!

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So there is just a few little tid bits I have learned from loving the "Kid Photography" What is your advice, I know you have some! I plan on posting it on the blog after you comment!