• You have a child who just won’t smile or when he does smile it’s all forced and fake?
  • How about capturing him when he’s not looking. Get him drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, blowing bubbles, or jumping on the trampoline.

• The rain is relentless and you haven’t taken a picture for days because you are most interested in naturally lit photographs.
  • How about popping that flash and just snapping. You could be missing the best shots ever because you don’t want to use your flash.
    

• You have multiple children and there is always one who looks away or closes her eyes. You just want one great picture of all of them together.
  • How about following them as they walk hand-in-hand on the beach, or you get them all playing together in the yard, or swimming in their kiddie pool? There aren’t any rules that say you must have them all looking and smiling.
    

• The tantrums are plentiful and your fear is that you won’t get a decent picture of your terribly terrific toddler.
  • How about you put that bubble machine to use and capture some shots of your child playing amidst them, or maybe bath-time is a happy time and will yield some big smiles. Pick out times that your child is happy and get snappy!

Pictures that will be treasured don’t need to be posed. In this era of the digital camera we are afforded the option of taking as many pictures as our memory cards can hold. Keep those cameras within reach and start photographing the little moments, those ordinary –yet extraordinary– moments!

Turn Off Your Flash
Have your blinds open giving a lot of extra light to the area that your baby plays in the most. Have your baby set up close to a window that the light shines on your baby at approximately a 45 degree angle. Keep in mind that the time of day will determine the amount of sunlight coming in the window. Experiment at different times of the day to find the right light with your view finder, and to determine how much extra light you will need to leave on in your house.

Get Close-up Shots
Use a telephoto lens or stand directly in front of the baby’s hands, face or feet to get an extreme close-up. Don’t always try to get full body shots, shoot for that precious close up shot that will get the twinkle in your baby’s eye. Get down on the babies level and you will be able to catch some of the most precious facial moments that you won’t get from up above your baby. It is definitely possible to capture your baby’s personality on film so take advantage of it. Get pictures of all the different facial expressions, including when your baby is crying or mad.

Variety
Most people tend to take most of our photos horizontally. Try some vertical or angled shots as well. This can help fill in those empty spots in your scrapbook and will give a whole different look to your picture.

Remove Distractions
Keep your backgrounds simple and free of distractions. If you use a blanket to add texture, be sure that it is a simple color and that it doesn’t take away from your babies face. Don’t use a heavily patterned background that will take the attention away from your baby.

Black & White
Experiment with black and white pictures to give your baby a different look. Even sepia shots can give a great, old timey look to a special photo. Take pictures with toys in different formats.

Review Your Photos
When you look at your photos you will see what needs to be improved and you can work on those areas on future pictures. You will see what techniques worked out great, and what techniques didn’t deliver the picture that you were looking for.

These techniques are good for both digital and regular cameras. Remember that everyday your baby is going to be doing things that you will want to get a picture of so be prepared! In twenty years, you will be glad you were.

Equipment: camera, meter, flash, tripod

This article is a simplified photography course directed at new photographers out there who want to know where to start.

If you really want to learn photography the first thing you need is a good affordable and reliable camera. It must, and I repeat must, be able to shoot in fully manual and fully auto focus modes. (This leaves out any digital cameras on the market right now, sorry.) To really learn photography you must understand the equipment. You’ll need to learn how manipulating the shutter speed, aperture, and focus will have a dramatic effect on your photos. Meters, if you have a camera that can work in a fully manual mode it should have an internal meter suitable for what you will be doing. Tripod, you’re going to need one whether it’s portrait work or landscapes you’ll need one eventually. Luckily you don’t have to spend a lot here. Just something lightweight and durable. Flash, you can buy a separate camera mounted flash, which is great if you can afford it. Consider what kind of photography that you will be doing though. If you’re going to do mostly nature and landscape, you may only need the fill flash that comes with most cameras today. If you plan on doing portraiture alone you will want to consider a camera mounted flash that has an adjustable angle.

Film, film speed to be exact. Slower speeds (25 to 400) are intended for portraiture and landscape photography. Faster speeds (600 and above) are intended for actions shots and photojournalism. So first you need to know what you going out to photograph and make sure that you have the appropriate film for the job.

Now that you have the camera loaded with film consider shutter speed. Do you want to blur motion, or freeze it? If there is no motion at all what shutter speed do you need to expose the scene with natural light. From 1/60th and down to the bulb setting will blur most motion. For example if you want to blur the water in a waterfall, a setting of 1/30th should work. (You’ll need a tripod though.) 1/125th is a normal setting for most shots. On many cameras the 125th setting is marked in a different color to make it obvious. If you want to freeze action you’ll need to start with 1/500th and work up from there. The faster the motion the faster the shutter speed needed to stop motion. Many cameras go up to 1/2000th of a second. If you’re trying to use natural light alone in a scene you will want to determine the aperture first and then see what shutter speed you need to properly expose the scene for available light. (Keep in mind sometimes there isn’t enough light.)

Aperture, these are the set of numbers on your lens closest to the body of the camera. They can go from 1.8 to 22, and they are referred to as F-stops. These numbers determine how much light reaches the film inside of your camera. Most internal meters will blink on the appropriate aperture for the shutter speed that you’ve set, or the speed you’ve set will blink if your F-stop is correct for the speed. Both the F-stop and shutter speed can be changed to expose the scene correctly. Consider that the faster the shutter speed the more light will be needed to expose the scene correctly. This makes logical sense if you think about it. If the shutter isn’t open as long, fast shutter speed, then there is less light able to make it to the film and so the scene must be brighter to expose correctly. To learn, bracket your shots. Take the first shot at the aperture suggested by your meter, move one stop up, take a photo, one down, take another photo.

Flash, I personally like shooting with natural light whenever possible and at most I use a fill flash. But if you’re going to do portrait work then most of the time you may be indoors and you will need a flash sometimes. For the amateur the fill flash units that are on the top of most of today’s cameras are wonderful for basic work. You will have to read your manual on your particular flash unit to learn what it can and can’t do. This is where the camera that is fully manual and fully auto is great for the amateur. You can usually set it so that the camera will meter and set the flash output accordingly and then you still can control the shutter speed and aperture.

This week’s assignment:
Have several rolls of 400 speed film, find a subject that you can work with preferably something that won’t move, and shoot one roll of film. Shoot some of the roll in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Bracket every shot, take notes on time of day and light conditions, and what your settings (aperture) were for each frame, keep the film speed the same for the entire roll. Have the film developed and examine the photos. You should be able to see a difference in each frame. You’ll need to repeat this procedure until you feel that you understand the relationship between shutter speed and aperture, and every camera and meter has it’s own quirks and differences, you’re camera will act differently than someone else’s. This way you will learn you own particular camera as well. Once you have a sense of how aperture works you won’t need to bracket every shot you take, you may only need to do it in cases where you want to be extra safe on exposing the subject correctly.

If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum.
© 2004 Kelly Paal

About The Author
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

1. Prepare in advance.
Before you shoot, frame the background first through the viewfinder. Make the entire background, including corners and sides interesting. First frame the background and then place the subject.

2. Have patience.
Talk to your subjects and let them get comfortable with you. When they start to forget the camera is there, you can take more natural candid shots.

3. Avoid using the flash.
The light looks unnatural and washes out colors and facial features. If you’re using film, try 800-speed films, which are widely available and allow you to take sharp indoor photos without a flash.

4. Avoid the outdoors during the middle of the day.
Bright daylight is unflattering and washes out your subject. Instead try capturing your subject in the rich tones and long shadows at sunrise and sunset. If you must shoot during the day, move your subject into a shaded area out of direct sunlight.

5. Get closer.
Being too far away from your subject can take away from the uniqueness of your pictures. Often the key to giving a photo pizzazz is to move in and capture the details of your subject, leaving out extraneous things in the background.

6. Take night pictures.
Nighttime offers different lights and shadows that you can incorporate into your pictures to make them look unique. At night you can use flash, a street lamp or even holiday lights if they’re bright enough.

7. Ex-nay on the pose-ay.
Don’t have your subject pose. A picture caught in motion often makes a better and more memorable shot.

8. Have comfortable surroundings.
If your subjects have to pose, have them find a comfortable, natural position. Here’s when a little leaning or slouching is permitted. Standing straight can make unflattering lines and give boringness to your picture.

9. Use props.
If you’re taking a portrait, include a telling item in the picture. A favorite toy or rocking horse for a child’s picture, or a wedding picture in the background of a couple’s 50th Anniversary picture. The props will create conversation about your picture

10. Unfocus the background.
A background can tend to take away from your picture so try taking your picture with the background blurred and only your subject in focus.

So, do you get the big picture or do you move in for the close up shot and that look of sheer concentration on your baby’s face? The choice and answer are yours. If you feel that you won’t interrupt the moment by doing so, I recommend that you attempt to get both photos.

While I adore close up baby shots that allow you to feel the emotion of the baby pouring through the camera and onto the snapshot, there is something about seeing a child at play that is simply adorable. I often joke that I can see the wheels turning behind the eyes of each of my children and yet they each turn so differently. They have such different interests and are still so very much alike. I like to capture them at play with those things they treasure most at different stages in their lives. By taking bigger pictures, I will always have a reminder of a favorite toy or book, long after that toy, that book, and that particular interest are long gone.

In addition to giving you options for enjoyment when taking multiple shots at various distances, you will also find that it gives you more opportunities in which to get that perfect shot. You will also find that it allows plenty of extras from which relatives can often choose their favorites. Taking multiple shots at various distances over time will also give you a glimpse of which angles feature your baby’s smile the best and which distances are too far to show of her eyes. There are things you can learn about your photographic skills and your baby’s photographic nature by playing around with panoramic photos as well as close up baby pictures.

Another important thing you will want to do as you are learning about distance and taking those photos at different distances is to study the results and see how much you can learn about focusing on your baby rather than the background in your photos. This is an important skill to learn over time and one that will serve you well. While you are playing with distances be sure to play with a few angles too. Remember that it is virtually impossible to have too many baby pictures and you can have so much fun in pursuit of the perfect baby picture. While you want to have some great photos of your baby for years to come you also want to be able to simply enjoy the memory of the time you spent taking pictures of your baby as well. Don’t get so caught up in the process of taking great photographs that you forget to enjoy the time you are spending with your little one.