Outdoor Candid Child

I shoot a lot of photos in my job, but they're all of things which don't move, or where I have good control of the lighting. As a result, I find that I take pretty poor photographs of people. I'd like some feedback, please on this shot, and links to any general pointers for shooting live subjects. I seem to always catch a blink or a grimace instead of a pleasant expression.

One thing I've started to do is shoot candids in burst mode. Its amazing the subtle changes in facial expression that are capturted over a short time frame, which can greatly affect the success of the photograph.

Thanks, that's a good tip. I tried shooting in bursts just last weekend at a family event, and got some better shots. The other thing I've been trying to work on is keeping my off-camera eye open to better watch the scene. When you're trying to shoot three active preschoolers, EVERYTHING is moving.

You need to fix the exposure (Photoshop can do) and get rid of the water bottle. And, yes, shoot rapid fire shots. That way you can it they have a cute smile but are blinking you can photoshop the eyes from a similar picture taken a second after that has their eyes open. It works amazing for wedding photography. Large groups pictures are a pain because in no shot is everyone looking at the camera and not blinking.

forgive sentence 2. rephrase: That way if they have a smile in one shot but are blinking you can switch the eyes with the shot taken a second later (in which they are not blinking).

Thanks for the feedback, all. Here's a crop (to eliminate the water bottle) and some minor levels tweaking in Photoshop to correct the exposure. Any improvement?