Tips for Taking Candid Photos of Children

Candid photos of children can be lots of fun, not only to take, but also to look at in years to come. To get good candid shots, you will need to have your camera handy at all times and take lots of shots. Some may be no good, but if you have a digital camera this won’t matter; you can simply delete them. Don’t make a lot of fuss when you are taking candid shots, or the children will become self-conscious and may end up running away every time they see you trying to point and click.

Never show your really candid shots of children to others in front of the children, while laughing about them. They’ll hate it and refuse to pose in the future. Children have dignity too. If you make sure it’s fun for the children, they will enjoy it and be more co-operative. With older children, you can also point out the things you did to make the shot more special. This will get them interested and help train them to take good shots of their own.

Some posed shots will be necessary, but try to make them a little more creative than just standing in a straight line. How about posing two children on a tricycle? They will be having fun and concentrating on more than just posing for the shot. You would normally have the older child with his feet on the pedals and the younger one standing in the tray, but try reversing this. For starters, the younger child will be shortest and so should be in front. But reversing their positions in this way creates unusual expressions on their faces that are fun to catch on film

Remember to get up close and personal for great candid shots of kids. Also get down to their level to prevent distortion. When the pictures are of babies, making eye contact will aid in interaction and expression. You want to avoid that vague look that lots of babies have when there is no one to focus on. But if your want their expression to be one of absorption in a toy or some other thing that intrigues them, try and stay out of their focus. Wait until baby is entirely focused on the other object, then click.

If the baby is moving, follow the movement with your camera and gently squeeze the button rather than clicking sharply. This will help to prevent blurring the shot with camera shake. If you miss that great smile, it could be because of shutter lag. This is the time between when your finger began to squeeze the button and when the shutter finished moving.