I think I need faster focusing than I thought for small kids

[cameraperson]

I was outdoors taking pictures of my six-year-old, and it was much more difficult than I expected. Sure, I've taken lots of snapshots before, but I was trying to get "good" pictures, right ones if you know what I mean.

He's rambunctious and very hard to control. No, beating him won't help , but I would miss tons of good shots. It was late afternoon with the good light, but he'd complain the sun hurt his eyes (it was not in his eyes), or he couldn't do this or that, he moved fast, real fast, I got lots of eyes closed, missed the cute shots, and so on.

It made me think that a 60D might not be just for sports. I don't have a studio. Outdoor portraits only for me. Those little kids move fast. I need fast AF and lots of fps to not miss those shots.

[Gatorboy]

Use AI-Servo. Tracking moving subjects takes a bit of practice. Resorting to spray-and-pray is not the solution.

[isophotostudio]

His eyes might just be really sensitive to the light even light that isn't shining in them, my husband has to wear sunglasses from the moment the sun pops up to the moment it goes down and when I was young I used to walk around with my right eye closed because the light bothered it so much. Took forever to break myself of the habit once I was old enough to realize I did it and how stupid it probably looked.

If we want photos of ourselves outside with sunglasses we have to do the eyes closed open on count of three, than *snap snap snap* trick.

[L.J.G.]

Yep, shooting kids is fun, but also no fun! My grandson is so quick and he tends to run at you when you are trying to shoot him. So what I do is get my wife to play with him, use my 70-200, move right away so I am out of his immediate field of vision and zoom in for shots. By moving away he does not try to include me, he is only worried about what is close to him. Being a distance away allows me to get good sharp shots as the speed is not a severe as when you are in close quarters. It is funny, I brought a 30mm so I could be closer, but it turns out being further away works better.

[albertaskater]

Fast fps is no match for timing your shot. My 7D can shoot 8fps and I shoot sports; and never use high speed continuous shooting.

[cameraperson]

I am lost on what you are telling to do and not to do. Can you clarify?

[brokensocial]

We've always been a fan of just improving your timing rather than chasing faster lenses or FPS. I can count the number of times on one hand where I missed a shot due to slow lenses rather than due to poor timing.

[bobbyz]

Get someone else to engage them. Even if just you, hold a toy or some object close to the camera so so they look at you. And shoot. Another option is to use longer focal length. I don't use AI servo for kids unless I am shooting kids playing sports.