Tip for Photographing Kids

Today’s Post by Joe Farace, Photograph by Mary Farace

One of my friend Rick Sammon’s favorite expressions is that “the name of the game is fill the frame” and I’ve always found that’s good advice, especially when making pictures of children.

We want to be able to see their faces, not their shoelaces, so be sure to get down on your subject’s level to shoot at them not down on them. You’ll get better portraits and your small subjects will relate to you better when you get down on their level to make the photographs. That’s means you may have to sit on the grass or get down on the ground so be sure to wear your grungies when making this kind of photograph.

This portrait of two pals and their dog was made on one of the girl’s front lawn with the photographer, my wife Mary, was lying on her stomach to get the shot. This puts the camera on their level and also helps minimize background clutter. The camera’s pop-up flash was used to add some sparkle, fill in shadows, and make the kids “pop” from the background.