tips for shooting kids (age 1-4) in the wild

I have shot kids in studio before and it can be dauting or pleasant depending on the child. I mainly shoot teens and adults but have been asked to shoot a child out in a park. I usually use strobes .

I am begging you guys that shoot kids for some tips. Natural light is too finicky for me and how do you control the kid with so much to overwhelm them outside.


Help! Lol

If you think toddlers and preschoolers are finicky with natural lighting, try chasing them with a strobe and modifier while they run around causing chaos!

There are a ton of people on here with much more experience than I have. But I'll fill you in on what I do. When I'm outside, I'm a natural light shooter. It's just my style. I don't have to worry about metering ambient versus subject, distance and power and if I want to change my f-stop on the fly I can do so without much thinking.

Anyway, strobe vs natural light aside, I find that you get the best photos when the kids are in their element having fun. Let them play and interact with the environment. Be their best friend and play with them. It will open them up and you'll see their good side. Once you get that far, the hard part is keeping up with them!

Just remember to have a good time. If the atmosphere is pleasant, they will be much more enjoyable to shoot. They can sense negative vibes from you are nervous, shy or guarded.

Here are some samples of my recent work. It's not your typical posed and proper portraits no. But the parents love them regardless.

Love # 1.

i have also had some trouble working with natural light, and would love some more specific tips on how to best make use of it....

Natural light is easy to shoot in once you get some practice. You know when the sun is just peeking over the horizon during sun rise and sun set and everything is golden color? Welcome to Golden Hour. This is the best time to shoot to reduce harsh shadows and get nice even lighting. A warm feeling is an added bonus that can give the viewer warm fuzzies inside.

If you shoot into the light, you can get a great golden rim light. Though the background will be really bright. Just be sure to use spot meter. If you shoot away from the light you can get the warm color on your subject, just make sure they're not squinting if the sun is still bright.

Once you get more practice, you can start incorporating sun flares into your shot (if you like that style)

Here you can see many of the things I just talked about in this shot I took a few weeks ago. Once drawback is that if you're a contrast ****, this isn't the style to be shooting with.

Great thread and tips!

Thanks for the pointers guys, I come from a glam/fashion perspective and i really do like contrasty pictures but I want to grow and be able to shoot kids like this. I feel like I am not ready to shoot this client though I feel my work with adults is pretty strong. If anyone else has nore tips please share.

I always tell parents ahead of time to ensure the children are well fed and well rested prior to the shoot.

A cranky kid = worried parents = lousy photo session.

Also we advise parents to bring some favourite toys of the child.

It can be a great physical workout photographing children.

For extra kicks, I shot these with a Leica Summicron-R 90/2 all manual. As in MF including aperture and shutter speed. I'm weird.

First of all, do you have kids? If you don't, that's going to make this a lot harder. Kids that age can tell a parent from a non-parent.

Kids at 1-2 are going to be a lot different from 3-4. I think 1-2 is probably still a bit young for a playground shoot. Playgrounds can be a dangerous place for a child that age unless the parent is holding them, at which point you have more issues to deal with. You could probably do a lot better in a ball pit or one of those climbing tunnels like at Chuck-e-cheese. You can have lots of fun with that and an off-camera speedlight using E-TTL.

3-4 year olds are starting to get a bit self-conscious and many go through a fear period or can be downright hard to work with. To avoid trouble here, you can't get straight to shooting. You have to take a moment to make some sort of relationship with them. What seems to work for me is that I introduce myself and tell them that their parents asked me to take some good pics of them and that you really need their help. I use my LCD screen to show them some pics along the way. They are amazed every time the see themselves. These kids will usually pose for you and they really like it when you do something to hurt yourself for some reason. Just get on their level, be creative, have some fun, and ask for their opinion from time to time.

For the lighting in parks, I try to do the usual - shoot early morning or just before sunset, have the parent or assistant with a reflector for some fill, and go natual lighting all the way.

And of course the rules posted before about timing the shoot and meals is important. Make sure the parents have spare clothes and pack a "kid kit" similar to a wedding kit - ie needle, thread, scissors, buttons, safety pins, baby wipes, hand gel, tissues, tide-to-go stick, first aid kit (let parents do the first aid), Off, sunscreen, and of course....bubbles.