Photography 101

Photographing your children can be one of the most frustrating and rewarding tasks. Trust me after pointing the camera in my kid's faces nearly every day they have their good days and bad. Sometimes I get the model which I love and sometimes I get Oscar the Grouch.

With this in mind I have formulated a few tips to help all of you take better pictures of your kids and your projects.

1. Get up close. My rule of thumb is where ever you are standing to take the picture take 5 steps forward. When you get up close you really have the chance to capture the details that make a picture unique.
2. Don't worry about posing. Kids work better when they are free. This means more work for you as the photographer chasing them around (also make sure to use a higher ISO and shutter speed) but it also means you will capture the child in their element and hopefully you with get some great facial expressions that can't be captured with a cheesy smile.






3. Use props. Normally I am very simple with less props because I think they can feel too posy but with kids a prop can draw their interest and put a smile on their faces.

Bubbles:
A balloon:
Throw the leaves around in the fall:

And most of all PRACTICE. I have been taking pictures professionally for almost 7 years I have learned the more pictures I take and review the better I get. I look at pictures I took a year ago and think to myself, YUCK. Photography is like anything in life, the more you do it the better you get a it.