Many parent’s have nightmare stories from their many attempts to get great images of their children, whether that be at a portrait session or in their living room with their digital camera. No doubt, capturing great images of children can be challenging and mystifying. They’re fickle, they can’t always tell us what’s wrong and they’re constantly on the move.

In this short article, I’d like to tackle the topic of getting great images of children, whether your out on a shoot with us, or taking pictures for yourself.

On a Petruzzo Photography Portrait Session

We approach portrait photography differently than many others. We’ll gladly trade picture perfection of something real and natural almost any day. And this creates a better part of our approach to photographing children.

Rather than attempt to capture what we want, we generally let a child show us what he or she wants to show us. Sometimes that means wandering around the back yard looking for bugs. Or in the play room looking at their favorite toys. Or maybe wrestling with mom and dad on the living room floor. Whatever the circumstance, we avoid the ‘do this, do that’ approach and instead look for the beautiful images that happen naturally when we interact with a child (or when you interact with your child).

What does this mean for you? Believe it or not, it can mean quite a lot. It means that you don’t want to treat your portrait session like a chore. The more fun a child is having, typically the better the images turn out.  Here’s a few simple guidelines you can follow to help us get the best images we can of your child:

1. While there will be some images where the child needs to stay and sit with mom and dad, or siblings, the majority of the time you should let them play. Don’t worry about any stress it may be causing us, if we need a little extra help, we’ll ask. So if it seems your child is running wild, don’t worry about it. We’ll let you know.

2. Avoid distributing punishments during your photoshoot. If the child isn’t cooperating, be sure that their ill-cooperation is actually causing problems before taking a stern tone. Dishing out a punishment at this time will almost certainly have negative affects on the quality of your images.

3. If your child is especially clingy, you may want to make yourself scarce so that the child can become more comfortable and opens up for the photographer a bit more. This is also typically true of teenagers. Sometimes a little independence goes a long way.

4. Don’t over-dress your child for the photoshoot. You may want to gussy them up a bit, but over-dressing may make them feel tense and less likely to get comfortable during the shoot. Think business-casual, but for children.

When You’re the Photographer

Of course, it’s not always feasible for you to pay us to capture great images for you. So, when you’re rolling up your sleeves to take some pictures of the little ones yourself, here are a few tips that will stand to instantly improve your images.

1. Photograph children from their eye line. Many people have a tendency to take photographs from where they stand. But you will capture more intimate photographs if you’re capturing them from the child’s own altitude.

2. If you don’t already have a digital camera, or are in the market for a new one, consider a digital SLR. These cameras have almost no delay between when the button is pressed and when the image is captured, making them perfect for children (or anything that doesn’t stay put for very long).

3. Try to take your picture when the child doesn’t see it coming. When they’re playing alone in the backyard, or while they’re completely pre-occupied with McDonald’s PlayPlace. This will help you capture something more natural, as well as avoid the full-on cheese smiles.

4. Let the child take some pictures. This will help them get familiar with what your doing. It also tends to smooth out camera-shyness.

People almost always ask the same question when it comes to portraits—especially family portraits: “What do I wear?” Well, the answer to that question is never really cut and dry. And, in fact, the question actually inflates itself to something much more important: “What can I do to get the best pictures possible?”

Over the next few weeks, I will be detailing some tips to help you come to your portrait session relaxed and comfortable, and most importantly, ready to help create something special. In this post, we’re going to discuss clothing, which can has a bigger influence on your photographs than you might think! So, without further adieu, lets get started.

Picking Your Colors

Selecting the colors for you, you and your spouse, or you and your whole family, can seem a bit mysterious for some people. Here’s a few tips to make things easier.

1. Avoid extreme blacks and extreme whites. While excellent images can be captured in dark blacks and bright whites, the greatest versatility comes in colors that fall between that spectrum. For example, instead of white, try beige. Or instead of black, try dark grey.

2. Green is a no-go. If you’re shooting outside, avoid dominant use of the color green. When wearing green and shooting outside, it can be easy to get lost in the setting. In addition, light bouncing off the shirt will often leave a green glow on faces which is generally not desirable.

2. Avoid overt coordination. You know the pictures where the whole family is wearing white shirts and blue-jeans? While they have their place, and some great photographs have been taken with that style, these images have a tendency to miscommunication people’s personality and therefore lower the lasting quality of the images. We believe natural is best, so let aesthetic diversity flow and avoid too much blatant coordination.

3. Go for printed fabrics. For women, blouses and shirts with prints can be an excellent choice, and offer the opportunity to coordinate in more meaningful ways. For example, if you choose a shirt with a blue, green and brown print, have the other people in the portraits choose clothing that makes use of some of those colors as well. The results will be a subtle and pleasing coordination that doesn’t call so much attention to itself that you get lost in the image.

Stay Casual, Stay Comfortable

For most portrait sessions, casual is the way to go. Here are a few places this becomes especially important.

1. Couples. When it comes to natural interactions between couples, mirroring an ordinary situation goes a long way. This means don’t dress up like you’re going to the prom. Stay casual. Think about what you might wear on an afternoon date, or out to the movies.

2. Teenagers. Teenagers usually have their own style, which sometimes seems weird to us (and in 10 years, probably will to them also), but their fashion is often a big part of a teenager’s identity. If you want your pictures to be authentic, allow teenagers to use their own fashion sense to help design their outfit—but keep a close eye. If the fashion trend is too extreme, the photographs won’t age well.

3. Children. Don’t over-dress your children! Children are already going to be on guard. Usually they’re out of their element and somewhat nervous about the stranger with a giant camera. The photographer’s report with the child is extremely important in capturing great pictures of them. Keeping them comfortable and casual will help them to let go and have fun with the photographer. But most importantly, this will also mean more natural and longer-lasting photographs.

Keep Things Timeless.

Fashions change constantly. There’s no way around that. In 25 years, when you look back at these photos, you will undoubtedly see a difference in the fashion. But, by keeping things neutral—in a fashion sense, timeless—the photographs will age much better. If you choose your outfit based on all of the hottest trends in fashion, you run the risk of your photographs becoming a joke with time. Allow yourself to infuse some modern trends into your outfit, but keep the best of it timeless. Your photographs will age more gracefully and when you look back, you may know they era they came from, but at least they won’t make anyone laugh.