Child Figure Photography

If you have children and a camera, chances are you have a lot of general photos of them already – at play, in the bath with dad, and so on. But have you considered taken portraits of them? Children grow up and change so fast that if you don’t make a concerted effort to capture them regularly, you’ll find that you’ve missed the opportunity to record how they looked at different stages of their lives.

In order to capture a good portrait of your child, there are a few things you will need. First of all, a camera. Any camera will do, but ideally a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera with a wide-aperture lens (f/2.8 or wider) is best. You’ll also need sufficient memory cards and battery power to record lots of attempts (child photography usually requires this).

Then you’ll need to decide whether you want to take a traditional portrait (i.e. a headshot or head-and-shoulders), or an environmental portrait (this is where you photograph someone with a wider lens to show them in their habitual environment).

If you opt for a traditional portrait, you’ll need a location with good lighting. The easiest way to achieve this is to have light coming from a large light source on one side of the model (a window is perfect), with something to bounce the light back into the other side of the model’s face (a large sheet of white cardboard is all you need). Remember to turn the flash on your camera off, as using the flash will ruin the lighting scheme you have set up.

If you’re shooting a traditional portrait, it’s usually best to do it just after your child has woken up, before they’re too hyped-up and energetic to hold still for long enough.

The other option is to shoot an environmental portrait. This is where you set up a shot to show your child in their environment – i.e. at play. Ideally this will be doing their favorite activity, whatever that happens to be. Remember to tidy the area so that there’s nothing distracting in the background to your photos. When you take your shots, get down to your child’s level so that your photos are intimate; shooting from your eye level will make them seem insignificant.