Encounter a new parent and odds are they’ll have a child in one hand and a digital camera in the other. Parents are constantly photographing their kids (and often little else), so why is it so hard to get a good shot of the young ones? Here’s how to get great photos of children.
Shoot All the Time, Not Just at Special Occasions
Digital photography makes it easy to always be photographing your children, no matter how mundane the occasion may seem. And you know what? Sometimes the best pictures happen when you aren’t expecting them. A photo of a sleeping infant can carry immense power. A candid shot of a child, fresh out of a bath and wrapped in a towel, can also be a surprising and unique keepsake. The point is: Shoot as often as you can, not just when you’re trying to pose your child and get them to smile, but when they aren’t even aware they’re being photographed.
Turn Off the Flash
A surefire way to bug your kids is to use the flash a lot. Most people—but especially kids—get annoyed when a flash keeps firing off in their face. It can actually feel blinding. What’s more, when not used carefully, a flash can wash out natural colors and create odd shadows. Open the window shades and let in lots of natural light—cameras like the Samsung WB150F are sensitive enough to capture great shots indoors as long as the sun is out, sans flash. Shooting outside, of course, eliminates many lighting problems, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you can’t shoot in the shadows, make sure the sun is to your back and side. You don’t want the sun directly behind your child’s head (which will result in deep shadows on their face), but you don’t want them squinting into the direct sunlight, either.
Get Them Distracted
If you’ve ever seen a professional portrait photographer working with kids, you know that distraction is a key. Many use an assistant to operate a puppet or make faces at younger children in an attempt to get them to smile. You can use the same tactics by putting on a funny hat for picture time or by having another family member play peek-a-boo over your shoulder. The Children mode on the Samsung DV300F camera can lend a hand here, too: Activate this system and the camera will display a kid-friendly animation on the front LCD and play background music for them, too. The more you can do to get a child to laugh or crack a smile while looking toward the camera, the better.
Alternately you can simply snap candid photos without letting your subjects know you’re taking pictures. Kids don’t have to be posing or even sitting still to get great shots: Simply set your WB150F for Action mode and pics will come out clear no matter how fast the kids are off and running.
Shoot at Their Level
Photos of people, whether they’re adults or children, shot from above with the subject looking up, tend to be unflattering. You will get more interesting and engaging shots if you get down to their level, physically that is. Try to shoot by putting the camera lens on the same horizontal plane as your kid’s eyes. This may mean crawling around in the grass, so wear your weekend jeans.
Share Your Photos Online
Photos sitting on your camera don’t do any good. Once you’ve bagged that perfect pic, it’s time to share it with the world. The Samsung WB150F and other Wi-Fi enabled cameras let you share shots immediately and directly from your camera using your wireless network. Save pictures to your PC or to a web-based Microsoft Skydrive account, or beam them directly to social networks like Facebook for instant sharing. Should you want to have an impromptu slide show, you can send photos to TVs and mobile phones through Samsung’s TV Link and Smartphone Link systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment