EASY PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS FOR PARENTS
I assume if you’re reading this post, you’re looking for tips to help you take better photos of your children. Kids can be difficult, they don’t always do what you want but there are some simple tricks to get those perfect shots which I will discuss in this post.
I also wanted to note, that we (myself or my husband – he takes a lot of our photos) are not professional photographers by any means but I’ve had so many lovely messages on my Instagram account recently about our photos, that I wanted to with this post. If we can take great photos, there’s no reason why you can’t as well!
One thing I’m realising more and more is that time goes so quickly and they grow so fast. Recording your precious family memories really is priceless! We don’t have any fancy equipment, all our photos are taken on my iPhone 14.
For reference, our kids are aged 4.5 years old and 16 months. My eldest went through a phase (at roughly age 2) of really not wanting his photo to be taken. I think the best advice here is not to force it as it will only worsen the problem. Try the below tips and give them some time, he now loves photos!
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1. CANDID SHOTS
I’m going to start here as this is the easiest way if your kids don’t want to cooperate for photos. Simply, don’t tell them you’re taking it. This is also the best way to get their natural happy smile, rather than the fake grimace my eldest son often does!
Also, some of my favourite photos don’t even feature their faces. Shots from behind are a great way to capture the moment without them knowing.
2. TAKE ONE OF ME – THEN I’LL TAKE ONE OF YOU
This one works every time for my 4-year-old. I wish we’d tried it sooner! He has loved to take photos since he’s had his own camera. Sometimes, I let him take photos on my phone but it’s always a little bit risky that it might get dropped, so I think their own camera is worth investing in!
I often let him take a photo of me, then he’s happy to swap and let me take one of him. No drama, very simple and easy. It’s great for his development as well, he loves to direct “move that way a little bit” etc.
I got his first camera when we went away so he could record his own memories of the trip. It ended up being great while away and for daily use. We recently upgraded his camera to an Instant Print Camera, this one thermal prints images so you don’t need to worry about buying replacement ink. The only downside is that it only prints black and white, however, you can order colour prints from its memory card like any other digital camera. He loves this one even more and I think it’s better for slightly older children.
SHOP: FIRST CAMERA (Age 2-5) INSTANT PRINT CAMERA (Age 3-6)
3. DO SOMETHING CHEEKY
This is a really great tip, essentially, it’s making them think they are in charge. I asked my 4yo to take this photo with me and he wasn’t keen. Then my husband whispered to him “let’s do a trick, go and stand with mummy and when I stick my tongue out, lift up your shirt. Mummy won’t know until she looks at the photos later.”
You can get the photo you want before he lifts his shirt and takes the silly one. You can see he’s genuinely laughing at his own trick. When I looked at the photos later, I made sure to laugh and let him know he’d outsmarted me!
4. MAKE IT IN TO A GAME
If you’re looking to take better photos of your children, any way you can make it into a game or something fun for them is a win! I often dance/ spin him around and then when we stop, you can take a cute picture (see the third photo below).
My husband is excellent at making up these games. Anything like, “I’m going to be sleeping, and I don’t want anyone to disturb me!” It pretty much guarantees they’ll be running to wake you up with a huge cheeky grin on their face! You open your eyes and smile as they reach you! See the first photo above.) Or why not have him throw the leaves up in the air or over his brother like in the middle photo above? We got so many great ones from this shoot!
When we went to Beverly Hills, I really wanted photos on Rodeo Drive, he actually made his own game that he was a prince and I was a princess and we just went with it. I’m so pleased with how they came out.
5. BRIBERY
Honestly, if all else fails, bribery can be a great option to take better photos of your children. We usually use some kind of sweet treat that he probably would have got anyway. Take the photo and we’ll get an ice cream later. It is really a win-win for everyone!
BONUS TIP TO TAKE BETTER PHOTOS OF YOUR CHILDREN
My eldest has been much more cooperative and happy with having his picture taken since I started showing him the photos we’ve taken and explained that these memories are really precious to us.
I signed up for Chatbooks as a Fatehr’s Day gift for my husband. I chose a quick mini-book once a month. The app is really well designed and makes it so easy to pick your favourites straight from your camera roll and have them printed in to a little book.
These books are so exciting to receive in the mail and we all love looking at them! I started this when we lived in New York and paid just $10 per month for our subscription (including postage and billed annually).
THINKING OF ORDERING CLICK HERE AND USE MY CODE: ALEXMILLS-TRCV for $10 off
(full disclosure: using my link also gives me a $10 credit – thank you in advance!)
Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope its helped you think of some ways to take better photos of your children!
Don’t forget to check out my other motherhood posts here.
