How to Take Great Photographs of Your Kids

Taking great photographs of your kids means taking bad photographs of your kids. Sure, there are definitely characteristics that you can learn about photography that will allow you to know how to take a great picture. There are definitely things to learn about composition that are important to understand. That all being said, taking great photographs of your kids means taking lots and lots of shots. Sure, anyone can take an average picture. If you want to get that truly great shot, don't be afraid to click that shutter as many times as you can. It'll pay off. Most of your photos will be deleted, but your overall portfolio will be the better for it.

Before the age of digital cameras, when I had one of those ancient things that actually required film, I was happy if I got a truly good or great photograph for every role of film I used. In fact, I was thrilled. A single great photo per role of film was pretty good. Often, I got nothing on a role of film (I'm talking something framable). However, now with digital cameras, you can take hundreds and sometimes thousands of pictures before you even have to download them. This has fundamentally changed how we take pictures.

The best photos are the ones of kids that catch them unaware. Trying to get your kids to smile or positioning them in a certain way doesn't usually result in a great picture. Capturing them as they're enjoying life (or not) without them knowing you're snapping a photo is usually going to produce the best picture.

If all you've ever owned is a simple point-and-shoot camera, you probably don't know much about depth of field. In simple terms, depth of field is the amount of space between you and the farthest visibile point in your picture that's in focus. Digital SLR's have the ability to change depth of field creating a subject that's in focus while everything else is fuzzy. Altering depth of field can make for some great pictures.

Centered pictures are generally boring. Try putting your subject in one of four quadrants. Imagine a rectangle inside the average rectangular picture that's about half as big. The corners of that rectangle represent a point where you might want to locate your subject.

Camera quality is a big deal. The average point-and-shoot camera can't take the same kind of picture as your average single lens reflex. If you want great pictures, you're going to have to spend some money on a more expensive camera and learn how to use it. The good news is that a decent SLR can be had for under $1000 easily.

Another gigantic change taking pictures now as compared with the era of film cameras is the ability to change the picture using a photo editor. Not only can you correct things like red eye, you can reposition the subject for better overall compositional quality. If you're taking pictures without using a photo editor, even a basic one, you're missing the chance to improve drastically the quality of your photos.