There are so many wrong moves we make when taking shots of other people. What I love to do most is capture real people, real faces that they make, and doing what they really do. Kids play, they don’t generally stand still in a dress shirt with their feet pointed slightly to the left, arms crossed, head slightly tilted, wearing what could be a plastic smile. But we try to capture that moment to keep? Sorry, but posing people unnaturally is probably my biggest nightmare. I am not a professional, I like to get real shots, I don’t need to pose people, when I do have to pose them I do it so that they hardly know they are being posed. If these tips work with my 3 and 5 year-old boys it seems they would work (with slight variations) on most people.

1.) You do the work: Let your subject (victim) be while YOU do the work of moving around to get the best shot. Call it the photographer’s diet– it works for me. You are the one trying to get the good shot, so when you force your kids to do all the work, you really will get only mediocre expressions from dissatisfied subjects. Let them play, let them throw sand, let them cry…real pictures work best and they are the most memorable ones.

2.) Work (read: play) with your subject: Ask the person what their favourite thing to do is, and get pictures of them doing that. If you are taking pictures of your children you probably already know what they like to do, so instead of telling them you are going to take pictures just ask them if they want to play pirates, or if they’d like to go outside and shoot their cap guns. While they are doing it, take pictures.

3.) Don’t give commands: Try as little as possible to say things like,  “wait, just stay like that!” or “don’t move!”…those kind of comments clue them in and they won’t want to cooperate. There are moments that you would like to capture, and you can avoid sounding like you are only interested in taking pictures say things like, ” I think that gun has some caps left in it” or ” ” do you think you can shoot the top of that tree over there?” — again be real, this isn’t about manipulation, but working with them to get a good outcome. Don’t lie to get them to do what you want, but it is okay if you use your imagination. This works well for little kids. I don’t have teens yet, so I’ll give you tips on that when we get there.

A shot of how chaos, can be better than organization- let it be, and SHOOT!

4.) The magical window of picture perfectness: There are times when you need a specific shot and the subject just has to cooperate. These shots are rare, but still  they happen. When this is the case, get your shots within an age specific amount of time. My kids are 3 and 5 years old, they can sit and look happy for about 2 minutes without touching something or acting grouchy. That means I have 2 minutes. I need to have my camera ready, have the light meter set right, and everything just set so that I can shoot pictures for that whole time. When they are done, YOU are too. Resist the urge to beg, bully, and boss them into anything once the magical window is closed. You will all have a better day.

A necessary posed shot, I gave myself about 5 seconds, the equivalent of two shots to get this one right..the little feet weren’t going to stay still for long. (It was a no-nap day)

I always love answering questions for readers. I’d love ideas on future Dreadlockgirl Photography Tips sessions if you have them. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!

Previous Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips:
The Basics

Dreadlock Girl Photography Tips: I am going to do several of these posts, I am not a professional photographer by a long shot, but I love taking pictures and seeing beautiful pictures so I want to share what I have learned with you.