How can I improve my kid photos?

I had your set up when I first started and buying a body is not the best first step. The first step is spending some time learning about light, learning about how to accurately focus with a low aperture (1.4). Then using and learning DPP (or getting and learning lightroom) to brighten and process. You can get excellent indoor photos with the set up you have, but you do have to spend some time learning.

I second the post processing comment (after learning flash techniques). Have you tried DPP?
I've made some mediocre shots shine in post. And, to me, it's fun experimenting.

Yeah, I had to learn to the hard way, that the only think that probably going to work ..is increasing that ISO and running past 1/160s. Other than use flash bounce. Her is a shot IO made of my little cousin. she wasnt exactly waiting on me Im curious guys what foucusing mech. do you use when shooting kids, servo?

Content warning: script

DPP is your friend. Trust me. I use it in post before I go to lightroom. I edit my jpeg conversions in LR2 (I know it is outdated, but it was free)
Taken this weekend at a Party I was hired for. No flash, just fluorescent lighting and fast lenses. Also B&W conversions help a lot in Post for over saturated photos.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/ian_socool/12​261540634/

For me, I find having a fast prime lens is immensely helpful when photographing kids. I shoot a good deal indoor, using natural light, so having a fast (ƒ/1.4) lens can be really helpful in stopping the motion of a kid on the go.

Of course, getting a solid focus lock at ƒ/1.4 can prove challenging as well.

When shooting a subject, do you all generally use manual focus (on the far or near eye)? Camera and glass aside, how do you approach the picture from a focus perspective?

sosaysmorvant wrote in post #16704487
When shooting a subject, do you all generally use manual focus (on the far or near eye)? Camera and glass aside, how do you approach the picture from a focus perspective?

Show us an example. I use Auto focus all the time.

sosaysmorvant wrote in post #16704487
When shooting a subject, do you all generally use manual focus (on the far or near eye)? Camera and glass aside, how do you approach the picture from a focus perspective?

When I'm shooting with primes I manually focus, but I've got an Eg-S focus screen installed which helps considerably. Using zooms I'll put one of the outer focus points on an eye.

I was refering to shooting with zoom lenses.....I just find autofocus gets it wrong a bunch. Trying to figure out what the pros do so I can try to copycat. Thanks for the info!

Pick your own focus point... on the eyes.

There is so much education on the internet! Here is a link to a forum that is great for children:

http://www.iheartfaces​.com/tutorials/

Enjoy! And come back and post your results with us!

Starting out with good light is key. You MUST have either enough available light and flash or reflector to fill.