The "Taking photos of my child" thread

[pinholecam]

I see a lot of excited parents getting a DSLR (and a car as an after though... ) as part of the road to Singaporean parenthood. I myself had a renewal to photography on the arrival of my daughter. My K100D sitting happily in the dry cab before that. We all want to capture moments in our children lives so as to retain those memories.

Now the vexing part, is always how to get decent photos of these lil'uns?

I would like to start this thread for everyone to share how they have managed to take photos of their children, and hopefully benefit those in need of reference. (Before they find that a DSLR does not take good pictures and throw if away! :devil: )

I'm not professing to be an expert and such. As I've said elsewhere, I'm the 75% photographer (my shots are anywhere up to 75% (don't fail can already) )
Just want to share so that those starting out don't need to stumble on the same mistakes.

Pls post photos as examples and comment on the method if possible.


#1 - Look for a bright enough location
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Jupiter9 (85mm f2.8 ISO200 1/200)

Taken outdoors where the light was diffused on a partly cloudy day. (ie. not strong sunlight).
Sometimes, indoors and away from the window, the lighting can be too poor to take a reasonable photo. Shutter speed can be too slow.
Moving to a better lit area helps.

 

[pinholecam]

#2 Anticipate
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A50/1.7 (ISO200 f3.2 1/125) with Flash

Toy car lying on the floor and little fella taking a bee line towards it. Start to focus around the are of the toy. Its easier to start snapping when the focus is about there, rather than do it last minute and let the focus hunt about.

 

[pinholecam]

#3 Use flash to get DOF and faster shutter speed
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SMC K24/2.8 (ISO200 f5.6 1/125), flash bounced from top left wall

Taken in the early morning (about 7.30am). The place was rather dim so the use of flash helps lots.
It allows a faster shutter speed to stop motion and also allows the use of a smaller f-stop for greater DOF. The greater DOF allows a larger portion of the focus area to be sharp, adding to the chances of a successful picture.
It also gives slower lenses a chance (Eg. A 18-55mm kit lens at 24mm would be ~f4 and struggle with the shutter speed in dim lighting).

 

[pinholecam]

#4 Bounce flash can be very helpful
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Cosina 50/1.4 (ISO200 f4.5 1/180)

Simple setup using a off camera flash bounce to the top left wall.
The bounce produces softer light and is directional.
It simulates what could have been a shot done with window light coming in from the left.

There are always concerns about flash hurting babies eyes. I won't go into the rant about it being unproven. In fact, direct flash into the eye is uncomfortable for anyone. This is where bounced flash comes in. Its indirect and comes it at an angle that does not fall directly into the eyes.

 

[tabako]

is this a pentax lens discussion thread or a show off young children thread. I got an incredibly cute niece I want to post but don't know can or not.

 

[Supersimon27]

I got to admit . I am one of the 'father' to get DSLR due to the 'Son'

Little Jaden on action. Both taken with DAL 50-200mm with KX

 

[pinholecam]

is this a pentax lens discussion thread or a show off young children thread. I got an incredibly cute niece I want to post but don't know can or not.

Of course you can. I just seem to keep seeing many posts here about buying cameras (in this case Pentax, but the info is generic) for the prime purpose of taking children photos.
Do share the technical information (the thread is supposed to serve as a reference and tip)

Better than keep repeating every few days. :sweat:

 

[pinholecam]

I got to admit . I am one of the 'father' to get DSLR due to the 'Son'

Little Jaden on action. Both taken with DAL 50-200mm with KX

Nice shots
It would be good to share how you went about taking the photo.
Its done with a 50-200mm, so sharing things like how you choose a brighter location, success rate, etc would be very helpful. I do believe may ppl have bought a Kx with either the 18-55 or with the 50-200.

 

[kneonx]

i've got no kids but can i post photos of other kids i've taken? )

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

1) It helps if they can't run around so you don't have to chase them for a photo. Then you can even get up close and shoot with a wide-angle lens!

2) Otherwise, find a duck to distract them. Now the problem is keeping the duck from running around. Some breadcrumbs will work to keep both child and duck stationary. :bsmilie:

I must admit I don't have kids myself so you can't take what I say about this seriously!

 

[kneonx]

makes me wanna laugh all the time

 

[pinholecam]

#5 - Take many many shots of the same thing. Keep the best ones
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FA35/2 (ISO200 f5.6 1/125) with flash bounced from left wall

What ppl show are their best shots (er.. better shots in my case :embrass
The rest are locked in a dark dank area of their hard drive or in the little place that deleted files go to.

This one, was just take after take of the fella seated at her 'makan' area. Finally, she gave an expression other than the 'blur' look. So this one was the one I kept.

 

[pinholecam]

makes me wanna laugh all the time

I think the tip for this one is.

If all attempts to catch the moving subject fails. TAKE CONTROL!

 

[kneonx]

LOL, yes that exemplifies the very useful tip
Just so happens my dad was playing with her and I was sitting right beside ~ The funniest part is, I have a picture of her doing the same thing to my dad HAHA.

 

[BananaDiver]

#5 - Take many many shots of the same thing. Keep the best ones
==================================================

FA35/2 (ISO200 f5.6 1/125) with flash bounced from left wall

What ppl show are their best shots (er.. better shots in my case :embrass
The rest are locked in a dark dank area of their hard drive or in the little place that deleted files go to.

This one, was just take after take of the fella seated at her 'makan' area. Finally, she gave an expression other than the 'blur' look. So this one was the one I kept.

Fantastic shot... i believe your kid will grow up to like this shot too...

 

[BananaDiver]

makes me wanna laugh all the time

really funny... gives me some ideas to shoot certain things too... cheers...

 

[Nanoo]

Thanks Pinholecam, for starting this thread so that we can learn from one another the art of photo shooting our sugar craving lil lovelies.

I have a few tricks to share. Result is motionless darlings.

Trick no. 1 - I simply switch on MR BEAN and I have a motionless doll to capture. Any angle, any time. As so as I don't block their line of view.

Trick no. 2 - And when outside, put them on the child ride.

Trick no. 3 - Food.

 

[ranchy]

#2 Anticipate
==========

A50/1.7 (ISO200 f3.2 1/125) with Flash

Toy car lying on the floor and little fella taking a bee line towards it. Start to focus around the are of the toy. Its easier to start snapping when the focus is about there, rather than do it last minute and let the focus hunt about.

Wow... see that most of your pictures are taken with manual lens. :thumbsup:
Damn.. you are good at it.. It's damn hard to focus on kids when they are running around. Really must make them sit still or predict what they are going to do.
Just to check, so you focus on the toy car first, then you will start snapping when they are in focus? So no need to wait for the AF confirmations point or the icon in the LV (for Kx). By the way, I meant for manual lens.

 

[Supersimon27]

Nice shots
It would be good to share how you went about taking the photo.
Its done with a 50-200mm, so sharing things like how you choose a brighter location, success rate, etc would be very helpful. I do believe may ppl have bought a Kx with either the 18-55 or with the 50-200.

Oh , it was taken ard 2month back I believe . Can't rem the details .

But I do set 1/80 s for shutter speed (cos my son move a lot ) Aperture set to lens max (smallest value) I think Ev +0.3 and ISO (forget)

It was very a sunny afternoon and I just open the window big big for all the sunshine to shoot into the room

 

[pinholecam]

2) Otherwise, find a duck to distract them. Now the problem is keeping the duck from running around. Some breadcrumbs will work to keep both child and duck stationary. :bsmilie:

I must admit I don't have kids myself so you can't take what I say about this seriously!

I do think some food on the floor will really work
Only downside is that my wife see it. I will kena :hammer: