How to Take Great Photos of Your Kids

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just freeze time so that your kids could stay forever young?

You can...sort of.

By taking good photographs of your children, you can chronicle their coming of age and preserve the good ol’ days for eternity. With a little practice, it is possible for you to take professional-looking photos without doling out the big bucks for a studio photographer. Here are some tips:

Be prepared. Help your child pick out his or her outfit and then put film in the camera. Also make sure that your batteries are fresh and functioning. If you are using a digital camera, make sure you have plenty of space left on your memory card. Always keep a spare set of batteries and extra film on hand for traditional cameras so you don’t miss a photo op.

Find the right light. Natural light is best. You can step into a doorway or near a window to find the right amount of sunlight. Just be sure that the sun is not behind your subject, or else he or she will be masked by a shadow when your film gets developed. If you’re snapping away in a poorly lit room, you’ll need a flash. As a flash can cause redeye and often makes for unnatural-looking photos, check the manual to see if your camera has a red-eye reduction feature and use it accordingly.

Choose the perfect setting. Deciding where to take the photos can be hard. There are

so many options. The most important thing to remember is to choose a spot that offers an interesting background but will not distract from the center of attention: your kid. Think ahead about where you’d like to position your children and consider having them engaged in some activity according to photographer John Freeman and author of “The Photographer’s Manual” by John Freeman (Hermes House).

Mix it up. “You should take both posed and candid shots,” says photographer John Mattera (www.johnmatteraphotography.com) in San Pedro, California. “Posed shots allow you to have consistency and can help you see how a child develops over time.” For example, you can take one full-length portrait of your child in front of your front door every year to track how he or she has grown. Mattera adds that candid shots are the most fun. “Parents should always have their camera close by to catch all those memorable moments that only come around once in a lifetime,” he says.

Get in focus. Don’t be afraid to zoom in or get close to the subject to get the best portrait. Too often, parents take photos from far away, and other things get into the picture which divert the shot’s focus from your child, according to photographer Ron Nichols and author of “Picture Taking for Moms and Dads” (Amherst Media).

Angle for the best shot. A colorful or telling background isn’t the only way to get an interesting photo. The position of the photographer makes a difference, too. If you are snapping photos of your kid from the top of a spiral staircase while he or she is at the bottom, you are likely to get an artistic portrait. You can also kneel down to get eye-level shots from your child’s perspective, says photographer Anthony G. Taranto of Bergenfield, New Jersey. The options are only limited by your flexibility.

Liven things up. Professionals say that next to pets, kids are the most difficult subjects to photograph because they’re hard to control. That’s because your child’s mood will determine the photo you get. “Taking pictures of people has to do with how you treat them,” says Taranto. “With kids, you should let them expend enough energy so that they’re obedient, but not so much that they’re cranky.” In other words, allow your kids to go through their usual morning routine — brushing teeth, eating breakfast, watching a cartoon — and then get into the picture-taking phase of the day. If younger or older siblings are around, you can catch them interacting with one another.

Or you can line them up and take a group shot. But even if you opt for a posed photo, try to capture their natural facial expressions as much as possible.

The best images are right in front of you. “Photo opportunities are always around us. You just need to give life a good look to notice them,” says Mattera. The more photos you take, the better your chances are of developing winning shots.