Please welcome to the blog my cousin, Kim Pace. She is a stay at home Mom to three wonderful, energetic boys (ages one to five) living near Newport, Oregon, and she is a talented mommy photographer. She loves to take pictures of her kids and put them into digital and traditional photo albums. She's taken the time to share some tips with us on how to capture beautiful pictures of your children (or the children in your life, if you're not a parent), along with a number of the gorgeous and entertaining images she has taken of her own cute and rambunctious boys. Enjoy! And if you love her post as much as I do, be sure to leave her some comment love at the end! *smiles*
Photographing Childhood Memories
by
Kimberly Pace
Ah, taking pictures of children. It's easy, right? They are so cute
and they do the cutest and funniest things! But, tons of blurry
pictures later, you realize it's a bit harder than you thought! Here
are some tips I have learned over the years. While I'm not anywhere
near being a professional, these are the things I do to get good
pictures of my kids.
Go Digital
Most of you are
probably already doing this, but if you haven't, you might want to
consider it. One of the tricks to getting good pictures is to take a
lot of them! Kids are notoriously good at not sitting still and making
faces when they are supposed to be smiling. With digital camera's, you
aren't wasting any film at all! No money thrown into the garbage. If
you don't already have one, be sure to research them before you buy.
Look at reviews both by professionals and the average person. Look at
more than one site for this. This way, you will find out what flaws
they each have (because, honestly, all things have some small flaw!) and
also because some cameras are best suited by the semi-professional and
others for general use. I made the mistake of not researching one once
and I got one I hated. Now, I was able to return it and I got a much
better one (for me) to replace it, but it wasn't fun to go through that,
since I was so excited to get it!
Get To Know Your Camera
One way to get good pictures is to simply get to know how your camera
works. Each one is different. Start by reading your manual. There may
be some cool features on your camera you don't know about! Then, go
out and try each setting in different lighting. Try all the things that
your manual says you can do. Then, when an opportunity arises, you
know which setting you would like to use for the situation. Also, you
can take classes in some areas which will help you learn more about your
specific camera and general photographic skills. These tend to be at
adult learning centers or other places like that. But maybe you have a
community college that offers them or something. I haven't had this
luxury, but my Mom and sister have, and you can see the results. Plus,
they had fun! Also, search around online. I found a guy who gives tips
on several cameras on a blog and he's also on Facebook. You can get
some great hints out there.
Go Outside
The best
pictures I've taken of my kids were outside. Especially if you can go
out on a cloudy day. You will want to avoid noon hours, though, as
there is too much glare. One trick you can do is hold your hand, a
piece of cardboard, a book etc....over your camera lens. That does help
when it is really bright. Some cameras come with a little shade you
can attach to the lens for those situations. But the colors are so
much more vibrant in natural light. If you are inside, you can find a
room with good natural light and that can help. Otherwise, for inside
lighting, you really want to know which setting works best there
(practice!).
Hold It
Ok, one trick most cameras
have these days is pushing the button half way down. This secures the
focus and it's easier to get a good picture, sometimes even when there
is a lot of movement. I definitely recommend this. You will have to
get a feel for it. If you push too much, you've taken the picture and
not enough, it isn't doing anything. This has helped me a lot.
Carry It Everywhere
Ok, maybe you aren't the geek I am, always lugging around a bunch of
stuff, but I recommend you take your camera everywhere (or get a phone
with a good camera). I got the best one of my middle son one day after a
doctors appointment. while he played in a little grassy area. He was terribly
hard to get pictures of and I hadn't gotten a good 1 yr picture of him
yet. But I had my camera with me when he went over to a railing, put is
arms on it and laid his head down on his arms. It was so cute! I had
taken the camera out first and was just taking general pictures of him
hoping for a good one, and I got it! Seize the opportunity! I've also
gotten some great ones at a playground.
 |
| The image I mentioned... |
Click, Click, Click!
This will be the best way to get good shots - just take a ton! It's
easy enough to delete bad ones. One good one in the pile of bad ones is
worth it! This is what professionals do too. They take a lot! Now,
most of the time you only see the good ones, or even just the ok ones.
You probably didn't see the ones where so and so sneezed, or the focus
wasn't completely set and it was blurry. Our wedding photographer
tried different settings in several areas and some weren't quite as successful, but it didn't matter. He just wanted to try that setting
in that area. And we had plenty of great ones of that same picture.
So, there is no harm in just clicking away!
Flash Tips
Now, I still have issues with my flash sometimes. You need to check
the settings for this. There are often different brightness settings
for the flash. With my camera, even the lowest flash is still pretty
bright! Another thing I've learned helps, is to back up and zoom. That
way, the flash is dispersed over a larger area and doesn't glare off of
the people's faces as much.
Macro
I love macro. It is
a setting where, if the object is really close to you, you can focus on
it better. I have used this for my kids pictures sometimes too, even
if they aren't super close-ups. It can really help the focus. I
usually try to take one without it, but if it doesn't seem to be
focusing the way I'd like, I use this and it seems to work nicely. A
lot of cameras have this too, though not all.
 |
| { Photo by Debbie Johanesen } |
Movement Shots
Oh, these are always going to be hard ones. I haven't perfected these
by any means, but what I do to help is to focus somewhere and
hold it down and wait. When you want to take the picture, it will take
it instantly. If you don't do this, the camera may take a quick second
to focus and you may have lost the shot. And this is another time when taking a LOT of pictures is called for. Some cameras have cool settings for this, and some
don't. But if you don't have a specific setting, this is the best way I
know to get them.
I hope these tips can help you! Here are some more pictures I've taken of my children. Enjoy!
~ Kimberly Pace
*All photographs are the sole property of Kimberly Pace and may not be copied or reproduced in any way without express written permission*
* Correction:: The first photograph under the subtitle "Macro" was taken by Kim's mother (my aunt), Debbie Johanesen, who won a first place ribbon at her county fair for it a few years ago*
* Correction:: The first photograph under the subtitle "Macro" was taken by Kim's mother (my aunt), Debbie Johanesen, who won a first place ribbon at her county fair for it a few years ago*
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