People are often surprised by the shots that I get of my kids. Especially my mother. When you show one great shot of your kid, it’s easy to forget how many failures came before that one shot was captured.
From Here, to There (Before & After)
First of all, here’s a shot of what I started with and where I ended. I removed a few distractions in the background and made the focus fall on his face.
The Challenge
Photographer’s child. Well, for me at least. But in general, kids don’t want to sit and stare at the camera. So I have to be patient and find clever ways to get around my kids’ disinterest.
The Gear
My “big girl” dSLR camera and my 70-200mm lens.
The “Trick”
One of the reasons that I enjoy using my 200mm lens with kids is that it allows me to get out of the way. I can get far enough away so that I don’t disrupt what they are doing. Simply getting out of the way and letting them do their own thing is huge for getting a good shot. Here I had raked up the leaves and let the boys go crazy. I sat back and just enjoyed watching them play and destroy my hard work.
Then, when I had my shot set up, settings perfect, composition made, I simply called his name and waited. Sometimes it takes a few tries, but if you are out of their way, they may not realize that you’re trying to take photos. This little guy will actively not look at you when he knows there’s a camera on him.
Right when he looked at me I snapped a photo. Then he immediately grimaced at me and turned around. Living that dream mom life.
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