Shooting Children

I know. After a few days of heat and humidity such as have been experienced across Canada this week, it might be tempting - but I'm talking about shooting them with a camera. Aside from any technical advice, the most important thing when doing a photo shoot that involves children, especially a lot of them, is to relax and have fun. If you are relaxed, they will relax - and it'll show in your final images.

http://imagesbyceci.smugmug.com/Children/Downey-Family/MG2046-Version-2/919900402_oLMAQ-S-1.jpg

Personally I prefer to do family shoots (such as these 9 grandchildren) in an outdoor setting. Although I'd have preferred a dawn or dusk setting for better light, organizing 9 kids at that time of day is pretty much impossible. So, we did the best we could given the somewhat harsh mid-afternoon lighting.

The grandparents have a lovely summer home on a lake so the kids gathered there for the experience. At first they were tense and the cheesy grins were pasted on faces. But after a little while, they began to get into the spirit of the event and had fun. We all climbed the rock pile, sat in the dirt, played on the playset and generally had a good time - while taking photos.

So, if family portraits are something you want to do - work on your people skills with the kids, first. Everything else will fall in place. Just remember to relax and have fun - then the kids will too.