Children's Photography

[Benji]

Benji,

It seems like you are the guy to go to for help. My husband has been doing photography and now I have decided to join him. However, I want to do children's photography and he does alot of nature scenes. He is doing his best to explain to me what I need to do to take a great shot, but he is totally over my head. I was reading your tutorials and you really break everything down well. If you have a moment will you please give me some tips on taking children's pictures. I don't have a studio so they will be outdoors. For instance what time of day is best and where do I position the child compared to the sun?

Thanks in advance!

Michelle (not her real name)

Michelle,

I will post a couple of suggestions and then allow some of our other fine Photocamel image makers with experience photographing children to chime in with their suggestions.

First don't point the childs legs or body (if standing) straight toward the camera. When you pose the child on the floor or ground turn their body so it will be at a 45 degree angle to where the camera will be. I don't ever place a child on a table, on a fence, up on a stump or large rock. They can fall off and injure themselves and while I don't mind ambulance chasers getting rich, I prefer that they not get rich from me or my insurance company! Have mom standing near the child just out of camera range, or have them (or grandmother) "hide" behind the main light and play peek-a-boo with them.

I have a bright green foam rubber ball that is slit so it can be placed on my nose. I slip it on and then quickly pop up behind the camera and I make a funny noise. MOST of the time the child will laugh.

Don't throw a stuffed animal (or anything) at the child as you may startle them. Suggest to mom that she should be ready to be photographed also just in case the little one is wary (or downright scared) of you. Don't use large props (like teddy bears) that are substantially larger than the child, or that are brightly colored (like plastic outdoor toys.) Both will attract the eye of the viewer to the prop rather than the child. Small props in the same key as the clothing and background work best. Flat lighting or a 2 to 1 ratio of lighting looks best. Most parents don't like dark heavy shadows in baby or young children portraiture.

Outdoors, make sure the grass is mowed, and that there are no ground hornets! That happened to me once! Prior to the family arriving I placed a short log (to seat dad on) in a shady area. Unknown to me, I had set it down right on top of the entrance hole to the hornet nest. I stepped back to see what the background was going to be, and saw that in that spot a small tree would be growing out of dad's head, so I stepped into the scene to move it and promptly got stung!

If you live where fire ants are a problem make sure there are no nests nearby, if so kill 'em off. For ground hornets, wait until dark, take a bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour it in the hole and cap it with a rock. They will die within a minute or two. That may also work with fire ants, but I'm not sure.

DON'T use the sun as your light source. It is too bright, too hot and too specular. Step into the shade where the light is soft. Make sure there are some overhead tree branches to block the overhead light (no one looks good with raccoon eyes!) Use a silver reflector NOT GOLD. A gold reflector will add a yellowish color to the side that is affected by the bounced light. Shoot a gray card first and shoot Raw.

Ok fellow 'Camels, give Michelle some of your tips!

Benji

[jfrancho]

Great stuff there. I broke a couple rules here, namely the sitting on something and the leg pointing out thing. But I did get eye contact:



I didn't see it mentioned, but GET LOW!

Here is the camera level in relation my little subject:


Having a few "boppy" pillows around will help a lot with posing little ones that cannot support themselves:



Again, eye contact can make up for a lot of other short comings:


You can be creative and get away with some weird things as well, like shooting from above:



Candids are another angle that are popular around here. Some photographers are paid to "hang out" part of the day to take what I'd term "quality snapshots."



Sometimes your subjects get a little wild. Take a picture of it. Note the legs, what Ben says is true.

[jfrancho]

Ben, if you don't mind me asking, could you post a few child portraits here so we can see some well executed examples?

[Mr. Pickles]

I think it is a good time to make it known that if these are considered "rules", then that really isn't the intent. These are merely "suggestions" or "things that work". As JFrancho stated and has shown, he did indeed break some of what Benji mentions, but the images don't suffer. In fact, some of these are certainly wall hangers.

Knowing the "guidelines" and when and how to break them isn't an image breaker. If people didn't "explore" the boundaries, and push them, then most images would be static and have the same look and feel.

So take all this great advice to heart, pose it if you can, and then just shoot the image that is presented.

[Benji]

It is difficult to say "don't do this with a child" because a "child" is someone 1 month old, 1 year old, 10 years old, etc. I'm hoping when I made this particular suggestion, "I don't ever place a child on a table, on a fence, up on a stump or large rock" that the photographer realizes that while this may be true for children under one year old (or so) it may or may not be true for older children. If one is not smart enough to figure out whether a child can be injured while in a pose they should seek employment elsewhere.

MOST of the rules (or suggestions if you prefer) do make for better images. Here are a few examples. Note that I broke no rules, yet they all are considerably different.

Benji

[Kosherpaparazzi]

Great info, it helps alot.

Now for my question. How do you photograph a special needs child? Has anyone had experience with an epileptic child?

[jfrancho]

Isn't epilepsy usually controlled with medication? If they are not experiencing grand mal seizures, I'd say it would be the same as any other child. Anyway, I have experience with shooting autistic children, and no two are alike. It helps if you have someone there that can make a direct connection to the child. I have a niece and nephew on the spectrum, and my experience has been to follow the caretaker's lead. My nephew is pretty easy, as he is very high functioning, but my niece can be tricky. She intuitively knows how to use pretty much any electronic device, despite limited language skills, so naturally she wants take over the role of photographer. I find shooting her tethered to the laptop so she can see each picture as its taken to be the best way to keep her focussed. Like I said, each on e is unique (just like kids without issues) so, it takes some discovery to find the formula that works.

[Kosherpaparazzi]

Thanks for (that) heads-up. I was wondering if a flash would trigger an e-seizure.

I'm also wondering how to photograph someone that's wheel chair bound...

[jfrancho]

Jeez, I didn't think about that. I seem to recall it was pulsing light that triggered them. I think you'd want to ask a specialist - this is where the parent is going to be a huge resource. Due to HIPPA laws, they may not be able to get into details, but I think they'd be able to guide you. For the wheel chair bound, I'd think you'd either feature the wheelchair in a positive way. I have a friend that is a quadriplegic, and he uses a racing style sport chair. He wouldn't mind showing it off. Others might not be as outgoing, and a tight crop using good head posing would be the way to go.

[uk2usa]

Usually seizures are triggered by pulsing lights... a flashgun should not induce a seizure unless you are very unlucky - photosensitive epilepsy is somewhat rare, only affecting 1 in 20 sufferers.
It will be important for you to concentrate on the comfort of the child... sensory bombardment - whether it be sound, light or discomfort all play a role in keeping your subject safe and seizure free. The same is true for stress, so building a rapport to make your subject feel at ease will be paramount.
It is a very good idea to talk to the child's parents... find out whether the child has identifiable triggers and avoid them. Also, try to identify from the parents whether the child is medicated - if so, can they identify a time of the day when the child is usually seizure-free?
A child suffering from a seizure disorder may not always exhibit the frothing at the mouth, violent convulsions that is the stereotype... there are over 40 different types of seizures - the symptoms ranging from a sense of deja-vu, to blank staring, to confusion, to violent shuddering (myoclonic).

There are some authorities that suggest that the myoclonic type seizures are generally seen in the morning.

Lastly, if your subject does appear to have a seizure there are some easy steps to follow to protect them....

• ask onlookers to keep back
• loosen clothing or jewellery around their neck
• cushion their head
• move away anything that could cause injury
• don't put anything in their mouth

If you have not seen a full myoclonic seizure before it can be quite a traumatic experience for you... but they are rare and by following the steps above you will not do any harm to the child. Have the parents stay with the child - they will be able to manage the seizure more appropriately than you.

Good luck with the shoot. I hope I haven't put you off... you would be EXTREMELY UNLUCKY to have a child seize during a shoot.

Alex (Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse)

[jfrancho]

Thanks for all that info Alex.

[Kosherpaparazzi]

Thanks for the very educational info Alex.


I guess i should read more about special needs persons. i found a website with some info - Special Kids Photography Home Page

[eselby]

I broke the rules with this little guy -- 3 years old - I was grabbing shots of his brother playing with a dog. He wanted to be in a picture, too. I stood tall over him, he squatted on the ground, wide angle lens (Nikon D300 w/ SB800 set on P mode)

His mom paid me for an 8x10

[onesaint]

This breaks two rules, colorful props and large props (which my wife loves). i see what you mean about the brightly colored objects. on one side, they compliment the photo, but on the other they take away from the main subject. this was one of my first studio attempts (my disclaimer =^) ).