How to Take Great Pictures of Your Kids (Even When You Have No Idea What You’re Doing)
Folks, I am not a photographer. I'm just a mom with no time to sift through my camera's manual or all the photography tutorials on Pinterest.
But doesn't every mom like to have adorable pictures of her kiddos? And doesn't every mom dread making an appointment at a studio, wondering if the kids will be happy that day, keep their clothes clean until they get there, and avoid procuring any scrapes or bruises on their face until after their photos have been taken?
What's a girl to do?
Although photography is definitely not something I am good at, I have been happy with the photos I have been able to take of my children in the comfort of our own home.
Here are just a few simple things to keep in mind, and you too can get great photos of your kids to keep or give as gifts to the grandparents!
1. Lots of light. The more natural light you can find, the better. Place your child with a window facing them (not with the window behind them). I have found that I can get better photos inside rather than outside because I have no idea how to handle shadows or too much light. A place inside near a sunny window is almost foolproof.
2. A nice background – Place your child in front of a solid-colored wall, or use a blanket or a piece of fabric as a background. (In the below photo, I used a piece of fabric. I just taped the fabric right to the wall. Easy as pie.)
3. A strong finger. This is the one that's most important when you have no idea what you're doing. Just click that button over and over and over, and eventually one of the pictures will come out good! See, it's really not that hard! (If you're a photographer, please stop reading. This is getting embarrassing.)
4. A little teensy-tinsy bit of editing know-how. You don't have to have any fancy software. PicMonkey will do fine. It's just nice to know that when you look through the 400 photos you clicked and find the best one and it's almost perfect, that you can brighten it up just a bit, or erase a little bit of snot under your kid's nose.
(The eBook Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Tutorial to Using PicMonkey with Professional Results,will make using PicMonkey a cinch!)
So…are you ready to try some snapping some photos of those cuties?! Let me know how it goes!