How to take great photographs of your family

We all know that children grow up...Fast. But many of us fail to take pictures of our children that do them justice. Special moments fly by and we look back and realise how few quality photos we have taken.

Now with todays technology people are taking even lower quality photos with their iphones and printing them out on paper that will fade in a few years. You dont need to pay a professional photographer, with a few tips you will be able to take professional looking photos yourself and be proud to show them off for years to come.

To take decent photos, you need a decent camera. It does not have to be a DSLR (although that would be nice) but you can not be using you phone. You can get a good quality compact camera these days for a very reasonable price and they are worth investing in.

Second, taking good photos also takes a little bit more time and imagination. You will need to remember to take your camera to special outings and spend some time playing around with different shots. You may also want to set up some scenes with your partner or child, this is especially nice if you have a small baby.

Taking photos of children - When taking photos of children you need to remember that children look their best when they are happy and natural. A smile and pose, cheesy photo of a child always looks just that, cheesy! So set up a fun and exciting activity for your children or go on a fun outing and catch them in natural poses. Try to catch them from different angles such as from standing high above (birds eye view), from lying on your stomach (worms eye view) etc. This will give you some exciting and interesting shots. Try to get different facial expressions such as laughing, wonderment as they find something, even grumpy as it is good to look back on. If you are struggling to get some fun shots get out some fun water play, craft or bubbles as children always forget the camera is watching when they can splash, paint or chase things. Childrens photos look especially pleasing with some bright colour added.

Baby photography - Baby photos can be very beautiful (think Anne Geddes) but babies can go from serene to screaming in a very short amount of time so the opportunity for the perfect shot can be small. This is a good reason to always keep the camera handy and remember dont be disappointed if a shoot doesnt go as planned. You will want to have pictures of learning to crawl, smile walk as these are lovely milestones. Babies also look very angelic when sleeping and these make for lovely shots. Use soft lighting as babies often have rashes, milia etc..that this will help cover and these shots also look stunning in black and white. Focus on their tiny hands, feet, mouths and use props to compare them to such as a teddy or your partners larger hands or feet. baby photos look best when kept as natural as possible. Baby on a white sheet or on a mothers bare skin. Try not to use direct flash, use as much natural light as possible, if you need to use flash try covering the flash with a tissue.

Family Portraits - We have moved away from the days of the stiff awkward looking family all lined up, posing for the camera. A family portrait should reflect on your families character. You should add a modern twist to the traditional portrait by phographing from different angles, utilisng light, shadow and form. The best shots are always the ones that represent your family and tell the viewer a story. Think of things your family likes to do, is good at, etc.. at set the scene around this. You should be looking to capture the families personality, not just a picture of a group of people.

Once you have all of these beautiful photos you have to do something with them. Now w are in the day an age of the digital camera we are lucky enough to be able to take hundreds of photos. But many people just take them, store them and they are never really utilised.

There are many things you can do with all your photos that can do them justice

• Make a photo story on your computer - Mac has a very easy program where you can add your photos and make great slideshows. You can add music and texts to tell a story. You can then send it to all of your friends. This is a great way to keep your photos and look through them in a fun way.
• Scrap booking - Although more time consuming, it is a beautiful way to keep photos. You can add receipts and tickets from trips and keep them beautiful books for your children when they grow up. They are also very special to make with your children.
• Albums on your computer - Many computers make it very easy to make separate albums on your computer that make photos easier to look through, such as Album, baby 1 year.
• Photo journals - You can make your own or there are professionals who make great photo journals. You can make one for each year, each family member or for a special occasion. Then add all of the photos for that category. They can sit on the coffee table or in the book shelf and they also make great gifts.

Photos are well worth the time and effort and they are something you can regret not doing in the future. So what are you waiting for! Get snapping.