I’m often asked how I’m able to capture “creative” everyday moments of my kids. Answering this, I always begin with the truth. The truth is that I’m a magician. I wave this wand that blasts off confetti to get my kids to do what I want them to do for pictures. Oh, and if that doesn’t work, I just use good ol’ momarazzi Voodoo.
Ha.
Just kidding.
The truth is that in order to capture great moments of my girls, I need only watch them and keep my camera nearby and my camera’s battery charged.
At my girls’ age, I can’t stage pictures, even if I wanted to.
Nya is now more aware of the camera and as a result she’ll vocally protest and run away, when I ask her to do anything that resembles looking normal in front of the camera. And, Annah? Oh, well, she’s pretty clueless to it all, but given her great mobility and head and neck control, she’s still very difficult to photograph most of the time.
So, when I take pictures of them both, I do so silently and without a whole lot of hoopla. I don’t say “Hey! Look at mommy!” Because they don’t listen and instead of looking at me, they’ll look at a crumb on the floor.
I don’t stand directly in front of them with the camera, usually, because then whatever it is that I want them to do, they’ll stop doing. Of course. But, that’s expected when photographing children.
I took these shots yesterday in Nya’s room. I was cleaning up and Nya started reading a book and Annah watched on. This scene isn’t spectacular, but I thought it would be nice to get on camera so I silently left the room, got my camera, and began snapping away. These are some of my favorite shots:
How do you get great shots of your kids?
***
This is week 14 of my 52 weeks of photos, personal photography challenge. I’m linking this post up with Courtney Kirkland.
About Jessica Jessica (@jessicafhinton)
Jessica F. Hinton is a writer, blogger, and hobbyist photographer living in the DC metropolitan area with her husband and two children. Her writings have appeared in various places on- and off-line, such as The Huffington Post, Babble, BlogHer, The African American Review, Early Mama, Tots 2 Tweens, and Baltimore's Child. She is a senior editor at Baby Gizmo and writes unedited at her other blog, http://shortlittlebits.com.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m like you. I wait, and keep my camera on, charged and nearby at ALL times. Usually, I’ll see something and grab my camera real quick. Before he realizes it and insists on playing with the camera. I wish I could stage a scene, but Pookah never cooperates!
I know! I used to think that was possible, of course, before I had kids. But, now I know it’s definitely NOT! lol.
It’s getting harder and harder for me to photograph the toddler without him coming over and wanting to play with the camera. He loves seeing himself so I turn the large view finder around and let him see himself and we take a lot of ‘self portraits’ that way. I do manage to capture moments when he’s too absorbed doing whatever he’s doing to bother with me and the camera
It should be interesting when the baby comes!
Yeah. I remember that being the case pre-Annah. Now, and especially when Annah’s awake, Nya is more absorbed in being with her and “playing” with her that she hardly notices me. So, maybe when the baby comes it will get easier, too! I look forward to seeing your pictures of the two of them! Sibling relationships are so beautiful and fun to capture on camera.
It seems impossible to get good pictures of kids if you tell them to look at you. The candid shots are much better.
Exactly! Candid shots are much better looking and easier to take!
So cute! But that’s what I do, keep camera ready & just sneak shots in when I can.
Those are the best pictures in my opinion. The ones that are natural and in the moment.
My son won’t stand there and smile even if I offered him a unicorn bearing candy.
Nope.
lol. The image of a unicorn bearing candy cracks me up!! Thank you for the laugh! I really needed that!
these days damian will give you the most awful scrunched up smile if you ask him to say cheese. but boy do him and his little sister love the camera. you take really great shots girl. these are beautiful.
Thank you, Vanita! That’s awesome that your kids love the camera! That’s half the battle won right there!
Precious shots! I’m a huge fan of unstaged, candid photos. One thing I do to take everyday photos of my kids is that I’ll set them up with an activity near a window. I get great lighting, candid shots and they’re none the wiser as they’re too busy playing, drawing, painting, etc. I also take photos of my children playing outdoors. I think the biggest thing is being ready at all times. I recently took a couple of great photos of my 17-year old son when I stumbled upon him alone in a field. It was raining and he had his arms outstretched and it was pure magic, a shot I’ll forever cherish. If you’d like to see it, it’s here: http://liveandloveoutloud.com/2012/04/27/pictures-of-rain/
Thanks for sharing, Kristi! That’s an awesome shot indeed! Great job! And thanks for the near the window tip! Great lighting is so key!