Ya’ll know that I am a rookie at photography.
And ya’ll know that I am totally knocked up.
Like almost ready to enter my third-and-final-trisemester-knocked-up.
And I thought a little practice taking photos of kids might help prepare me when I go full-blown paparazzi on Baby Will’s diapered hiney. And then I thought it might be uber-awesome of me to share with you some of the tricks I picked up along the way – so that you can learn with me. (pros – chime in anytime. remember I am just a rookie.)
So here are some of the little ways that I have learned to make sure I get a great photo. Here to illustrate some of the tips is Baby Lilley. You may remember her. I know I’ve mentioned her before. Oh right. Here. And here. And here. She will be our baby model for today 🙂 Now lets get to those little bits on how to take a better baby photo.
1. GET OUTSIDE
I struggle with lighting. Always have. Always will. So in order to bypass my archnemisis (proper exposure), I like to take photos outside. I learned that taking them at the beginning of the day or late afternoon, when the sun isn’t directly overhead is best for me to get enough light to boost my shutter speed up. And when my shutter speed is fast enough, I don’t get that fuzzy face photo.
2. GET DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL
Get down to their level….not mentally, just physically. This may seem like a ridiculous thing that everyone knows…but I didn’t at first. I had to learn that sitting on the ground, laying on my tummy or side or crawling on all-threes (the fourth being busy snapping shots) was a sure fire way to get a better photo. Take this one of Lilley on the chair – I was actually below her. And once you are down there, don’t take just one – take a whole diaperload of shots. You never know when the perfect little grin will pop onto their face.
3. FOCUS and REFOCUS
Learning how to focus your camera is tricky business. But learning to focus your eye is even harder. Especially when you are half-blind like me. I am talking about making a photo a piece of art. And learning to manage where clarity appears is part of art. Take this photo for instance – her shoes are in focus, her face is not. Did I take some pics where her face was the clear object – absolutely. But I wanted to show how to make one detail pop. You could do this with a child holding a flower or a favorite toy or just the itty-bitty toenails on that baby foot. I learned that if I take a photo – then I try to see what else is in that frame to focus on…then I attempt to make my camera focus on that item. Not only is the result sometimes fun – but it can be frameworthy too.
4. TAKE THEM AS IS
Sure, all parents want that perfect smile and the twinkling eye in the photo. They want the drool-less face and the cheerful expression. They want the outfit to look like it was freshly pressed and the hair to be booger-free. But this is the real world. And the real world has boogers. Lots of them. So instead of taking photos only when you have the perfect scenario, put down your parental pipe dream and just shoot the moments that are here and now. Take for instance this photo of Lilley. She is not looking at the camera. She is looking at the dog Katie who lives next door and was going nuts. She’s not in the best photo location…she is in our driveway. But the shot still looks good. Why? Because it was focused on her profile – that perfect little one-year-old profile. And not the boogers running down into her mouth.
5. USE PROPS
Props are gonna be your best friend when it comes to babies. Not only are they great distractions but they provide real-life baby scenarios that reflect your bambinos personality. This chair was used as a prop for this shoot. Since Lilley is not 100% a walker yet, she hung onto this prop for support. It was her playpen, her seat, and her boost to see the dog next door. But you could use anything – something structural like a brick wall, steps, or a fence, something decor-related like a basket, a blanket, or an umbrella, or even something of interest like a book, or a car or a frilly hat.
6. PHOTOSHOP
I know that there are purists out there that are so awesome at photography that they can capture an image and give it to you straight outta the camera. And they are perfect. So perfect that they would make the Governator cry. But me? Yeah, I mentioned I am a rookie, right? Therefore photoshop is my pictures’ BFF. Like BFFaEaE. So even when I fail miserably behind the camera, I can still salvage an awesome shot through a little digital enhancement.
Take for instance this one of Lilley-cakes:
The one on the left is straight outta the camera. The one on the right is photoshopped. The saturation was increased. The contrast was increased. The eyes were lightened. The clarity increased. The gray corner was lightened. Basically it was an okay photo before but now it really pops with the help of photoshop.
So there you have it folks – a few tips on how to take photos of your little bambino. And since I am still on the learning train with you, I would always love to hear your tips or tricks that you have stuffed up your photog sleeve. Put em right there in the comments. And remember – no matter what…invest the time to take your babies photos…they grow up so fast these days!
p.s. For those wondering, all these photos were taken with a Canon Rebel XSi – no flash, manual mode, with a Canon EF 50mm lens. And the photoshopping was done in Adobe Photoshop CS4 but I also use Photoshop Elements. xo – KB
I don’t think I’ve ever commented here but I thought now is the time 🙂 First of all, Congratulations to your pregnancy 🙂 Second, those pictures you took look incredible, especially since you’re calling yourself a rookie!!! They are really impressive. I’ve had my DSLR for about a year now and still haven’t figured out how to take such good pictures like you do.
Can’t wait to see the pics you take of Baby Will once he’s here.
Jeane
Thanks for this, Katie! I just bought a Nikon D5000 and am really getting into photography. I love any tips I can get, so thank you! The photos are all very lovely. Good job!
Hi Katie,
Your photos are beautiful, especially the one with the purple beret. I am interested in buying Photoshop & am debating between Elements & CS4. What would you recommend & what are the major differences?
Thanks,
Anne
Lovely photos! I want some babies to photograph (come on nieces and nephews!). You said you lightened the eyes in photoshop…what tool do you use to do this? Thanks!
thank you for this post! i just went out and used my Christmas money to purchase a canon rebel xsi solely for the purpose of baby armstrong due in may! i can’t wait to get it and start practising!
Great job! Also, congratulations on your growing family. I have a digital camera and would like to try Photoshop. Which version of Photoshop do you have/recommend for purchase? Thanks.
Hi Guys –
I have both Photoshop CS4 and Elements. CS4 is the more professional version (mine is from work) – which also means that it costs more – but it has actions ability…which is basically a set of changes that you can save or download and use on photos with a simple click of the button. Elements is cheaper (we got ours for around $70) and can do the same things but might take you a little longer. Both would be useful for editing and are different beasts to learn. If you are on a budget – go for Elements and learn that one first.
Hope this helps!
XO – KB
Kate –
To lighten the eyes in CS4, I use a Pioneer Woman action called “Bring Out The Eyes”. It is free as part of her second action set available for download on her site. Basically it is a layer adjustment that lightens as you highlight the eyes.
XO – KB
Hi Katie!
Wow, what great photos you take. You say you’re not a profi, but you do have the “eye” for it.
Gotta question for ya – how did you do the photo with Baby Lilley laying down on the chair? She is all beautiful in color and the chair and background are gray? That is such a great photo and if you could provide a little step-by-step about how you do that with software that would be great! Something I would totally do.
Congrats on the Little Will to be!
Wishing you and your family the best in the New Year!
Thanks,
Rosie 🙂
Great photoshopping. I do love me some photoshop…it does wonders. Your photos are great anyways though. Thanks for the tips.
I just got the Canon 50 mm lens for xmas and I’m in love with it. The other tip I would give to photographers is to really play around in manual mode and invest in good lens. These photos are beautiful!!!
Great tips, Katie! Those are beautiful photos. I agree — the BIGGEST tip for good photography is to pay attention to lighting and use natural, outdoor light as often as possible. 🙂
Wow, great job Katie. I would not have thought you were a rookie at all. Those turned out fabulous. She is adorable lil’ model.
Katie, these are lovely. I can’t wait to play around with my new Rebel XSi and hopefully get these stellar results! Thanks for the tips.
What great tips! I just got a new digital SLR for Christmas and just starting to figure out what I am doing. I am sure you are going to have so many awesome shots of baby Will!
Great pictures Katie – my sis (who is a photographer) took weekly pictures of my niece until she turned a year old – it’s so much fun (& amazing!) to look back and see her “grow” in the pictures!!! You can check out her work at http://www.bobbiebrownphotography.com if you get a chance and want some more ideas.
P.S. Lilley is adorable 🙂
Maybe I missed it, but what f-stop is your lens. I’ve been looking at the 50mm, and the 1.8 is so much cheaper than the 1.4, and I was wondering which one you had, and if you know if there was a huge difference in the pictures. Thanks!
P.S. Your photos are fantastic!!! I can’t wait until July when I have a niece to practice on!
Renae –
Great name by the way.
My lens is a 1.8 and you are right – it was WAY cheaper. I love it already. Although – it definitely has a learning curve 🙂 Happy shooting!
XO – KB
Hey Katie! You’re edits are amazing…so amazing that I want to ask you something about a project I am working on…and possibly hiring you for some edits to some photos (since I am photoshop challenged) Can you email me? Thanks:)
love these posts! it’s always fun reading about how other newbs are taking pictures and working in PS. and i especially love the photo of lilley with the purple hat! cute!
Okay, so now that I finally have some time to go through your blog again, I gotta say….this post almost brought a few tears to my eyes! AWESOME awesome work! You’re going to be an awesome Mamarazzi!
Hi Katie,
Love the blog btw..and the pics here, you take great pics for an “rookie” 😛 I have a question for ya.
I have two very adorable daughters 2yr old and 2 month old, and I want to take some pics of them for my parents. I want to do outdoor ones, but can’t figure out how to prop up my 2 month old, so she wont be laying down in every pic. Any ideas?
thanks!
Hi Funmilayo,
2 month olds are tricky…perhaps she can do a bit of tummytime over a Boppy or just a plain pillow and if you lay down it will give you the opportunity to shoot her if she happens to lift her head up. Also, some of my best 2 month old ones of Will were him laying in different positions and me working around him. She can lay face up, on her belly, on her side with a pillow prop, tucked into a baby pose while sleeping, swaddled, in a basket or propped on a cool platter or safely in one of those fabric hanging slings. And you can move all around too…face, profile, body, on her level, over the top, zooming in on one feature, from far back – the options are endless really.
Anyone else? Suggestions welcome!
xo – kb
Thank you so much! I’ll see how those suggestions work out for us! I’ve got some fancy kinda matching dresses for them to wear, so I hope it works out great! I’ll let you know! 🙂
DO you have any tutorials on here using Photoshop elements?
Nope. But in general, elements is very similar to my CS4 version so most of the info is the same in tutorials. Hope this helps a little!
xo – kb