You were both afraid and impatiently waiting for this moment for nine long months, and now it has come. All the difficulties of pregnancy and childbirth, all the worries are behind you, and you are finally home - a happy mother and little baby, your new family member. He grows every minute, constantly learns something new, learns his first emotions and pranks. The baby changes every day: the first smile, a tooth, and now the baby is already standing up in the crib, trying to crawl... These touching moments cannot be stopped, no matter how beautiful they are. But memory often fails. You won’t be able to get all these moments back, but you can capture them in a photo! Why not give yourself a little joy and give your baby the first photo shoot in his life? Remember just a few useful tips and it will not be necessary to invite professional photographer. Just imagine with what delight you and your grown-up child will look at these photographs in a few years.
The Best Modes for Photographing a Baby
- Photoflash
– it is better not to use this function for a photo shoot with a baby. Its safety for a baby's eyes has not been proven by medicine. Moreover, a child may be frightened by an unexpected burst of light. Another disadvantage is that the flash “eats” the texture and relief of the skin in the photo.
- Portrait mode
– this is the optimal camera mode for filming a tiny face. Try to photograph the eyes. After all, the best shots are obtained if you manage to “catch” the baby’s gaze.
- Aperture priority mode
- in the presence of SLR camera It’s better to shoot your baby by choosing this mode. With it you will get the highest quality footage.
- Mode burst shooting
– will be invaluable when the baby is active. Together with the minimum shutter speed, the mode will allow you not to miss a single interesting moment. After the photo shoot, you will be able to carefully review the resulting photographs and choose the most successful ones.
The best genres for your first photo shoot
Down with monotony and static! A baby having breakfast, crawling in a race with a cat, a baby studying rattles, a son seeing a bird for the first time... There are a huge variety of stories. If your imagination fails, turn to the Internet. Feel like an artist. Capturing moments is a difficult task, but how pleasant the end result is.
A win-win option is a sleeping baby. While he sleeps peacefully and sweetly, you can lay out a whole picture from scrap materials around the baby and capture the moment from all angles.
We pay attention to important details
- Pictures of details are rarely superfluous. During a newborn photo shoot, this axiom is 100% true. Wide-open, attentive eyes, chubby cheeks, a tiny nose, fluff on the head - from the crown to the heels, and at any moment in life the baby evokes a storm of admiration and tenderness among young parents. It is not necessary to photograph only the baby's face. Have time to transfer every dear and sweet feature to your photo. After all, soon the child will grow up, and tiny fingers will remain only in your memories.
- Don't try to imitate difficult poses from professional photo shoots. Without special skills, it is easy to harm a fragile baby or simply cause his displeasure, which will make filming difficult.
- It is better to photograph the child at eye level. Shots taken from above will be unsuccessful.
How to calm a capricious model?
- Your baby doesn't have to look exactly into the frame, but if that's your intention, attach something bright to the camera to attract attention. A rattle, scarf or small toy will do. If the baby demands this item, it is better to give it to him. Otherwise, bitter tears cannot be avoided.
- To “catch” your baby’s cheerful mood in the frame, make him smile and laugh, turn into a funny clown: sing funny songs, clap your hands, make funny faces. You can involve other relatives in this performance. Dad usually copes surprisingly well with such a responsible task.
- If your baby is fussy, play a quiet audio recording of the sound of water or a heartbeat. Classical calm music and sounds of nature also have a calming effect.
The first photo session of a little man, in which his nearest and dearest take part, will be remembered for a long time not only because of the beautiful photographs. Communication with your baby, no matter what you do together, strengthens the already close bond between parents and child, inspires trust and gives a lot of positive emotions. Looking through photos of your baby, you will always remember with warmth the first days of his life.
How to photograph newborns and babies up to 4 months
How to photograph children correctly (consultation with a professional photographer)
Photographing babies can be a very rewarding experience. Yes, they can be unpredictable. But the joy of playing with them, of being able to capture their spontaneity and individuality, can be limitless. However, choosing appropriate subjects for children's photography can be challenging.
Wedding and portrait photographer Kelly Weech from Cheltenham describes several subjects suitable for children aged from birth to 2 years. This period is characterized by the continuous development of the baby. She offers several plots that will most fully help you show the individuality of the little hero at different periods of his development.
Newborn photography
In the first two weeks after birth, the baby sleeps a lot. This is the ideal moment to convey in photographs the atmosphere of purity and the beginning of a new life.
Newborn photography can be intimidating, especially if you don't have children of your own. The subjects that Anne Geddes depicts in her photographs have become very popular. But we do not recommend recreating them without proper preparation.
However, without following anyone else, you can find opportunities everywhere and create priceless photographs.
“The photograph of the baby, who was born just two days ago, was created as follows. The mother sat on the bed facing the natural light source and leaned the newborn against her shoulder. I photographed from such a distance as to closely cover the baby in the frame and capture his beautiful eyes and relaxed state.”
At four weeks of age
This is the next key date in the life of a newborn. At this age, the baby is already stronger and more active. However, remember that the baby's head still needs to be supported.
Take advantage of this opportunity to create group portraits of the entire family. The parents' hands will play the role of a “pillow” on which the baby can sit comfortably. Thus, you will be sure that the child, supported by the caring hands of his parents, will remain as relaxed as possible.
“I took this photo using one of my favorite lenses - 24-105 mm. I love that I can refer to the details of an already perfectly composed plot.”
Three months
Patience is the strength of a children's photographer. Prepare a story and spend time looking forward to relaxed moments, such as rubbing a nose against a parent's support hand or yawning.
“Such moments “revive” stories and make them unique for every child.”
Four months
When the baby is four months old, you have one last chance to capture the baby sleeping on the parent's arm. Starting at this age, the baby will become more active and less tolerant of such static scenes. In addition, after 4 months, the baby may already be too heavy for the parent to comfortably hold him in his or her arm.
“This story is very popular. However, take care of the baby's safety. Have the parent hold him a short distance from a soft, shock-absorbing surface. I place the child on one parent’s hand, so that the palm supports the head, and with the other hand I ask you to hold the baby behind the back.”
“Pay attention to the background. It should be long enough so that you can build the composition you want.”
Five months
At this age, the baby can sit with support. This allows you to implement a number of new stories and ideas.
“I took this photo when the baby was sitting on a sofa with pillows. They supported the sitting child. I decided to convert the original image into a high key black and white photograph. I love the facial expressions and wide-open eyes here.”
Parts photos
Don't forget to photograph your baby's feet and hands while they are still small and inactive. Typically, from the age of six months, children begin to grow rapidly and gain weight.
“I photographed the baby’s hands and heels while he was sitting on his mother’s lap. I then desaturated the images to highlight the shape and texture."
Six months
Now most babies sit independently and become more sociable with the photographer. Shooting at this age can be a lot of fun because you are now creating the stories together. Now your interaction is two-way, unlike the previously discussed stories, where you positioned and directed the baby yourself.
“I took this photo during lunch. I called the baby by name, and he immediately responded to me with a look. Which is what I captured.”
“I love the naturalness of this photo. It shows what actually happens at lunchtime. I used an 85mm lens in combination with natural light to softly darken the background towards the edges of the frame. Thus, focusing the viewer’s attention on the baby’s emotions.”
Remember the details
A nursery is a great place to take pictures. Usually, here you can find a harmoniously decorated background for future photographs.
“Usually, when a baby is over six months old, he can roll, but cannot yet move fully. As a precaution, I asked the child's mother to sit on the side of the baby so that he would not slip.”
“Some parents call this period in a child’s life “tummy time.” The child spends most of his activities lying on his stomach. To capture the best angle of your baby's smile, ask mom (or someone equally cheerful) to sit behind you."
Eight months
The child becomes even more active. But he still needs an afternoon nap. This circumstance provides excellent opportunities for creating cute portraits.
“Even older kids get tired; they need to take a nap during filming. I find props in the child’s bedroom that I include in the composition of the future photo. This creates a nice twist in the plot.”
“I waited until the mother put the baby in the crib. She returned 5 minutes later - the baby was already fast asleep. And I took this picture."
One year
The so-called cake smash is a massive trend in children's photography, born in America and migrated to the United Kingdom. Tortolyap is perfect for expressing children's individuality through the familiar fun of dunking in sweets.
“I photographed in a 2x2 meter space with a washed floor. We sat the baby in front of the cake and suggested that she first pick up a raspberry and then completely dip her hands into the cake.”
“Once the baby realized she could eat the cake the way she wanted, I had the opportunity to take a series of unforgettable photographs. Mom was standing right behind me, and the baby was reacting to mom’s emotions and approval.”
Two years
Children will not interact closely with you if you act like an adult. As a children's photographer, you need to revive the child's mentality in yourself in order to become an interesting subject and attract him to cooperate.
Get down to the children's level and enjoy being with them. Simply put, play with them and make it fun. Run, jump, jump, make faces and play tag.
“If you are a children's photographer, build a trusting relationship with your child. For at least half of the entire photo session, let him express himself as he pleases. Then he will want to do what you want."
To see more of Kelly's portraits and newborn photography, visit her page on
Photographing babies can be a very rewarding experience. Yes, they can be unpredictable. But the joy of playing with them, of being able to capture their spontaneity and individuality, can be limitless. However, choosing appropriate subjects for children's photography can be challenging.
Wedding and portrait photographer Kelly Weech from Cheltenham describes several subjects suitable for children aged from birth to 2 years. This period is characterized by the continuous development of the baby. She offers several plots that will most fully help you show the individuality of the little hero at different periods of his development.
Newborn photography
In the first two weeks after birth, the baby sleeps a lot. This is the ideal moment to convey in photographs the atmosphere of purity and the beginning of a new life.
Newborn photography can be intimidating, especially if you don't have children of your own. The subjects that Anne Geddes depicts in her photographs have become very popular. But we do not recommend recreating them without proper preparation.
However, without following anyone else, you can find opportunities everywhere and create priceless photographs.
“The photograph of the baby, who was born just two days ago, was created as follows. The mother sat on the bed facing the natural light source and leaned the newborn against her shoulder. I photographed from such a distance as to closely cover the baby in the frame and capture his beautiful eyes and relaxed state.”
At four weeks of age
This is the next key date in the life of a newborn. At this age, the baby is already stronger and more active. However, remember that the baby's head still needs to be supported.
Take advantage of this opportunity to create group portraits of the entire family. The parents' hands will play the role of a “pillow” on which the baby can sit comfortably. Thus, you will be sure that the child, supported by the caring hands of his parents, will remain as relaxed as possible.
“I took this photo using one of my favorite lenses - 24-105 mm. I love that I can refer to the details of an already perfectly composed plot.”
Three months
Patience is the strength of a children's photographer. Prepare a story and spend time looking forward to relaxed moments, such as rubbing a nose against a parent's support hand or yawning.
“Such moments “revive” stories and make them unique for every child.”
Four months
When the baby is four months old, you have one last chance to capture the baby sleeping on the parent's arm. Starting at this age, the baby will become more active and less tolerant of such static scenes. In addition, after 4 months, the baby may already be too heavy for the parent to comfortably hold him in his or her arm.
“This story is very popular. However, take care of the baby's safety. Have the parent hold him a short distance from a soft, shock-absorbing surface. I place the child on one parent’s hand, so that the palm supports the head, and with the other hand I ask you to hold the baby behind the back.”
“Pay attention to the background. It should be long enough so that you can build the composition you want.”
Five months
At this age, the baby can sit with support. This allows you to implement a number of new stories and ideas.
“I took this photo when the baby was sitting on a sofa with pillows. They supported the sitting child. I decided to convert the original image into a high key black and white photograph. I love the facial expressions and wide-open eyes here.”
Parts photos
Don't forget to photograph your baby's feet and hands while they are still small and inactive. Typically, from the age of six months, children begin to grow rapidly and gain weight.
“I photographed the baby’s hands and heels while he was sitting on his mother’s lap. I then desaturated the images to highlight the shape and texture."
Six months
Now most babies sit independently and become more sociable with the photographer. Shooting at this age can be a lot of fun because you are now creating the stories together. Now your interaction is two-way, unlike the previously discussed stories, where you positioned and directed the baby yourself.
“I took this photo during lunch. I called the baby by name, and he immediately responded to me with a look. Which is what I captured.”
“I love the naturalness of this photo. It shows what actually happens at lunchtime. I used an 85mm lens in combination with natural light to softly darken the background towards the edges of the frame. Thus, focusing the viewer’s attention on the baby’s emotions.”
Remember the details
A nursery is a great place to take pictures. Usually, here you can find a harmoniously decorated background for future photographs.
“Usually, when a baby is over six months old, he can roll, but cannot yet move fully. As a precaution, I asked the child's mother to sit on the side of the baby so that he would not slip.”
“Some parents call this period in a child’s life “tummy time.” The child spends most of his activities lying on his stomach. To capture the best angle of your baby's smile, ask mom (or someone equally cheerful) to sit behind you."
Eight months
The child becomes even more active. But he still needs an afternoon nap. This circumstance provides excellent opportunities for creating cute portraits.
“Even older kids get tired; they need to take a nap during filming. I find props in the child’s bedroom that I include in the composition of the future photo. This creates a nice twist in the plot.”
“I waited until the mother put the baby in the crib. She returned 5 minutes later - the baby was already fast asleep. And I took this picture."
One year
The so-called cake smash is a massive trend in children's photography, born in America and migrated to the United Kingdom. Tortolyap is perfect for expressing children's individuality through the familiar fun of dunking in sweets.
“I photographed in a 2x2 meter space with a washed floor. We sat the baby in front of the cake and suggested that she first pick up a raspberry and then completely dip her hands into the cake.”
“Once the baby realized she could eat the cake the way she wanted, I had the opportunity to take a series of unforgettable photographs. Mom was standing right behind me, and the baby was reacting to mom’s emotions and approval.”
Two years
Children will not interact closely with you if you act like an adult. As a children's photographer, you need to revive the child's mentality in yourself in order to become an interesting subject and attract him to cooperate.
Get down to the children's level and enjoy being with them. Simply put, play with them and make it fun. Run, jump, jump, make faces and play tag.
“If you are a children's photographer, build a trusting relationship with your child. For at least half of the entire photo session, let him express himself as he pleases. Then he will want to do what you want."
To see more of Kelly's portraits and newborn photography, visit her page on
56220 Improving knowledge 0
How should you photograph children? This question is asked by many parents, which is why we dedicate this lesson in which we will help you with the choice of equipment and shooting parameters, give advice on layout and working with light, and also reveal the basics of communication with children necessary for their photography.
Traditionally for our photography school, all tips are divided into 2 parts - camera settings and actual shooting practice. And don’t let the lesson number confuse you - you will succeed! :)
Let's start with some tips for setting up your camera for photographing children.
Aperture priority mode. Shooting in this mode and high-aperture optics will allow you to control the depth of field (DOF), which is important for portrait photography, so that the background in the photos is blurred, focusing attention on the subject. The optimal value will be f/2.2-2.8 (according to shooting conditions) for a portrait close-up, and f/2.8-4 for shooting a full-length portrait. These values are conditional, used personally by the author of the lesson, and you can practically determine the settings of your camera that you consider more correct.
If your camera doesn't have aperture priority mode (i.e. your camera doesn't have manual settings), you can use portrait mode. When using this mode, the camera's automation will open the maximum aperture for the focal length you choose, reducing the depth of field.
ISO- Depending on where the photo is being taken (indoors or outdoors) and the light, set the ISO value to the lowest possible value to prevent noise. ISO at 100-200 - if the lighting is good enough. If the lighting is insufficient and the shutter speed at low ISO turns out to be long, you can compensate for this by increasing the photosensitivity, but I recommend no more than 800.
Excerpt- try to use 1/200 for static prophecy when your child is posing, and if children are not sitting still, go up to 1/500 or higher. As mentioned above, if there is not enough light and the shutter speed in aperture priority mode is set longer than 1/125, increase the ISO or open the aperture slightly. If your camera does not have manual settings, use the sports settings mode.
Focus mode- set the focus mode to one point - with children who are constantly moving, this will optimal mode. In simple point-and-shoot cameras, unfortunately, you cannot select the camera focus mode (maybe you should think about changing the camera?).
Image format when shooting- if you have the time and skills to process photos, then try to take pictures in RAW format. This will give you more options for post-processing. And again, I note that digital compacts do not allow you to choose the format for saving images.
Flash/Lighting- if there is a hot shoe connector in the camera, it is better to immediately refuse to use the built-in flash. If the photo is taken indoors, use an external flash to bounce the light pulse off the wall or ceiling (if they are white) or use a diffuser to get indirect light. If external flash no, or the camera does not allow you to install it - try to photograph in natural light and do not worry about the flash (except for moments when you are shooting against the sun and you will need flash fill light).
Lenses. If your camera has interchangeable lenses, then the choice is determined by the condition described at the beginning of the lesson - large aperture. When photographing children dynamically, it is necessary to use a zoom lens; when photographing statically - the best option There will, of course, be a lens with a fixed focal length. A TV zoom lens allows you to capture casual scenes from a distance, while a wide-angle lens allows you to take panoramic shots.
Now that the settings are complete, it’s time to move on directly to shooting practice.
Practice photographing children
Before giving specific advice on photographing children, it should be mentioned that the child should feel as comfortable and at ease as possible during the photographing process. You can show your child the photographs you took, let your child look at the camera, or let him take a few pictures himself.
The place where you will take photos, if it is situational, but try to think through 2-3 scenes in advance that you would like to capture. Shoot outdoors (for example, in a park or forest), and indoors (for example, a bedroom or a room where a child plays). Find a spot with a simple, low-key backdrop for posing (and make sure there's no carpet behind you!). Choose places where children will find it fun and interesting, then you can photograph them in a relaxed atmosphere while playing.
Hidden photography- try to photograph children as secretly as possible. They can do their favorite things during this time. Use a TV lens.
Avoid staged shooting where a child, for example, sits among toys with a sour face and looks at them indifferently. The picture is called “Happy Birthday,” but another name suits it best: “This photographer got all your gifts.” Unfortunately, social media they are simply teeming with just such photographs.
Posing- older children love to pose, but small children are not very attentive to this and photographs in which they pose may look a little unnatural and forced.
The best period for photographing babies is from 6 to 9 months. Then we have the most angelic faces, wide-open eyes and the most controlled mood. During this period, babies look at what is shown to them, lie where they are placed, and touch what is given. In general, ideal models. In a year or two, character begins to emerge. It depends on your luck. Maybe all the games that you have prepared for him will be completely uninteresting to him. At three or four, it is difficult to get children to stand in one place. Don’t even hope that you will put a small child in front of the lens and he will smile radiantly at you, turn in different directions and react to everything you say. Will not be. 100%. The film set turns into a stage for active games, and you always want to play in places other than where they are taking pictures. But closer to 5 years, a child can already pose well.
Take photos at the level of the child's face- an ordinary small child is no taller than half your height, and if you photograph him from your height, the pictures will turn out ordinary and inexpressive, and the proportions of the child’s body will be disturbed. Therefore, sit down at the child’s eye level.
Using the zoom. You can increase the focal length by zooming, but do not forget that in this case lenses with variable aperture values reduce the aperture, and, accordingly, the shutter speed increases and the depth of field increases. It is better not to use the zoom, leaving the lens in a wide-angle position and taking pictures in the surrounding context, not forgetting that the children’s faces should also dominate the pictures, and not just the surroundings.
Focus on the eyes. Pay maximum attention to the child's eyes. Clear eyes in a photo will always draw the viewer's attention to it.
Background. Pay attention to the background of your photos. The background gives context to photos, but it can also distract attention from the main subject. Before shooting, remove all unnecessary objects from the frame. Experiment with backgrounds of different colors and textures, or, on the contrary, take a photo so that the background is not visible at all.
Cloth- choose clothes that the child will feel comfortable in and that will reflect his personality. It's also good to have several different costumes if the shoot will take place in different locations. Avoid bright, flashy colors and accessories in the frame - they distract attention from the child’s eyes and create a certain spot of color - the visual center of the photo.
To obtain original photos use continuous shooting mode.
Include other people in the frame as another way to help your child relax - add parents, brothers, sisters, friends, etc. This will add a sense of relationship to the frame and will distract the child from the photographer. Filming two children is more interesting than one, but also more difficult. Here the emotions of one child must coincide with the emotions of another, otherwise there will be complete confusion. Here, too, it’s easier to give them some kind of task and film what they do. Only then will the photograph not look artificial.
Make the photo shoot as fun as possible. Try to make your child happy by asking him to do some fun things, this will make the pictures more energetic and help the child relax. The more fun the child is, the more sincere and original his photographs will be.
Light scheme, which you will use indoors, should not be complex and difficult to customize. You tell the children to stand here, and they move half a meter to the side. And it is on the sidelines that the most good shots. If your light is set to a specific point and a specific angle, you won't achieve much. It is easy to photograph children against a white background, where a step to the right or a step to the left does not play a big role, although, of course, you still need to monitor the light and, if possible, adjust it.
We will highlight photography in kindergartens and schools separately.
Manufacturing process school photography requires careful organization. The fact is that photographing one class can usually take time comparable to one lesson. There are from twenty-five to forty-five students in a class. The lesson lasts forty-five minutes. Therefore, the photographer has only one minute for each portrait.
A portable studio in a miniature version consists of a studio flash with a power of 150 J (at a distance of 130 cm from the umbrella to the child’s eyes, it gives an aperture of 8), an umbrella with a diameter of 100 cm (moving the umbrella more than thirty meters from the eyes is bad. At the same time, it ceases to produce a soft cut-off pattern, but large-diameter umbrellas cannot be used: they take up too much space), a reflector to the right of the photographer (about twenty cm from the child’s shoulder) and a source of drawing light (ideally it should be positioned so that during the shooting process it is not needed too much) move frequently, approximately 20 cm above the child’s head, at an angle of 45 degrees to the lens axis).
Opening a hole even larger than 8 is bad, because there is no reserve of depth of field, and in case of the slightest mistake you can get a defect. Considering the pace of filming, it's best not to take risks.
During recess, children run wild and run around like meteors, constantly knocking over the fence of chairs built around the studio. It costs them nothing to knock any of the flashes onto the floor. Therefore, during breaks, filming stops, the photographer retrains as a security guard.
The lens should allow you to shoot a half-length portrait from a distance arm's length. This is important because every now and then children have to straighten their shirt collars, ties, and bangs. Portraits are characterized by a soft pattern, shallow depth of field and usually large aperture ratio.
When photographing a class, turn off autofocus and frame the frame so that the subject's head occupies three-quarters of the frame, there is not too much of the body, and there is a small space of blurred background above the head. Now focus on the child's eyes and seal the focusing ring with tape. The main thing is that the image scale of the heads does not change during the work. When they all come together in one cool vignette, the different-sized heads will look ugly. You will have to focus by changing the position of your own head: either approaching the client’s eyes, or moving away from them. Not very convenient, but the output standard of the product is guaranteed. One more important detail. At the moment of shooting, the camera mirror rises, and for a short moment you lose sight of the person. And at this very moment he strives to blink. There is only one way to avoid this during the shooting process: you need to look at the lens with one eye and directly at the child with the other and, if necessary, take a double. Avoiding mistakes by looking at the camera display every now and then is not an option - the pace of work will be disrupted.
On the eve of the shoot, children usually receive a lot of “useful” advice from their parents. A trained child, sitting on a chair in front of the photographer, inflates like a bubble, begins to straighten his hair, his collar, chew his own lips, or gives such a crooked smile that he is just about ready to burst out laughing. A lot in this case depends on the behavior of the photographer. You can’t let the child come to his senses. As soon as you sit him down and straighten his hair and clothes, immediately ask him some stupid question that has nothing to do with the shooting, but requires a switch of attention. For example: “How many kwa will there be every time?”, “What is the name of your cat?”, “Turn your nose a little to the left,” etc. You should have quite a lot of such blanks in stock so that the question is unexpected for each subsequent child.
Children usually stand in line outside the studio and watch everything that happens like a small performance in which the photographer is both a director and an actor at the same time. And their behavior during filming depends on whether the children are interested in the performance. The moment a child hears a question, he willy-nilly switches his attention from the desire to be beautiful and control his facial muscles to thinking about an unexpected question. At this time his face takes on a natural expression. This is the moment of truth, catch it, pull the trigger. After a moment, the child will think about the question and respond: he will begin to talk, smile and again begin to play “handsome”.
You shouldn’t film children talking or squeeze smiles out of them if they themselves don’t smile at you with a full measure of trust. Uneven teeth or any glands in the mouth are very unsightly. It’s better for these guys not to open their mouths at all.
Children should not be allowed to stand directly behind you. They start making faces, showing their horns, in a word, entertaining the one who is already filming. This disrupts the rhythm of filming and prevents the creation of an optimal mood for the entire class. Confidence, goodwill, calmness, gentle tolerance for children's pranks and at the same time firmness in organizational requirements are absolutely necessary. If you can persuade the teacher to tidy up your tomboys, and you don’t waste time combing unruly tufts and putting collars and ties in order, you’ll be able to take down the whole class in forty-five minutes and still not create a marriage.
Higher grades are more difficult to film. The girls are all fashion models. They may sit on a chair with their back to the light because that side of their face seems better to them. Persuading someone to change seats is useless. It is necessary to prepare in advance for rearranging the light and mark on the floor where the umbrella stand will be installed. Large guys will have to be filmed while standing. Conversations with them and distractions should be more sophisticated and humorous. Commands in an orderly tone do not work. In a confrontational environment, filming goes poorly. Many guys have teenage acne. Therefore, stock up on good covering powder and concealer pencils. Accompanied by friendly laughter, the children will have to paint their cheeks and foreheads at a fast pace, without listening to objections. The result is quite decent portraits without pimples and freckles. An alternative is computer retouching.
That's all for today. I hope the materials in this lesson were interesting and useful for you. Good luck and all your photography!
I am often asked at what age is it better to photograph a child under one year old, so I decided to write a short article on this subject. Up to a year, our children grow and change rapidly, so I recommend filming the baby several times: at 10 days, 4-5 months, 8-9 months and at 1-1.5 years. In my opinion, these are the 4 key moments that need to be captured. And every time we photograph the baby at these stages, we will get completely different pictures. Then the children don’t change so much and you can do the shooting once a year.
Photography in 7-10 days. In our city, photography of newborns is not yet very popular, and mostly because of prejudices that a child should not be shown to anyone before a month, and also that it is impossible to photograph sleeping children. I believe that this age is very important to capture, because some 20-30 days will pass and you will no longer see your baby so peaceful, tiny, gentle and touching. I recommend taking newborns at 7-12 days, at this time they sleep soundly like angels and are comfortable in the “ball” position; after 14 days they will no longer want to lie like that and will be more awake and worried.
4-5 months. At this age, babies can already hold their head up perfectly, can lie on their stomach for a long time with emphasis on their hands, look closely at all the toys and smile when they hear a gentle voice. The shooting turns out to be more varied than at 2-3 months, when the child has to be photographed mainly lying on his back. It is convenient to use decor with such children.
8-9 months. This is my favorite age. When I photograph such kids, almost all photo sessions turn out great and varied in terms of emotions. At this age, babies already know how to sit and crawl, which is very important for a variety of poses. They are so inquisitive and interested in everything that it is easy to evoke positive emotions in the baby. At this age, their eyes are open to the world, their smiles are shining, of course, it’s a pleasure to capture such emotions. If you are in doubt about what age to choose: 5, 9 months or time the photo session to coincide with one year, I advise photographing the baby at this age. This age is the most suitable for shooting with decor.
1-1.5 years. At this age, it becomes more difficult to photograph a baby, because he is already beginning to show his character. He needs to go where he wants, dig up pebbles and pluck grass, and he certainly doesn’t want to sit with his parents on a blanket and look “at his aunt” and not at his new shoe or chew on an even more interesting stick J At this age, parents need to be more involved in the filming process, since it is no longer staged, but more reportage. Most often, these shootings take place in “seize the moment” mode. But nevertheless, such shooting turns out to be very interesting in terms of movements and emotions. I do not recommend preparing non-portable decor for shooting a one-year-old child, since you will have to run after the baby with this decor J To get good photos with a one-year-old baby, parents need to be prepared to constantly play with him in order to distract him from exploring the world around him and evoke bright positive emotions . I recommend doing such shootings outdoors. 
In general, no matter what age the shooting takes place, the attitude of the parents and the child himself is very important. If the child is sick or has not had enough sleep, it is better to reschedule the shooting. And of course, if a child is tired during a shoot or is capricious and doesn’t want to be photographed, you shouldn’t scold or punish him for this, some children lose interest after 5 minutes of shooting, in this case, no matter how angry you are with him, you need to take control of yourself hands and create an atmosphere of warmth and fun, then the shooting will go smoothly... :)
