Any Tips? Photographing Children/Babies?

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stephaniejade

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Name
Steph
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Hi all,

So after many months of saving I get my first DSLR, Canon 1000D, Anyhoo, Im wanting to focus on photographing children/babies.

Ive got a 19 month old little boy, who NEVER stays still and expecting my second in 2 weeks time, but I was just wondering if anyone had any tips/hints/advice really. :)
 
Presume you mean candids rather than setup.....Get as low as you can.. lie down if need be..
 
Get a 50mm or 35mm prime if you haven't already. With a wide open aperture you'll be able to shoot with higher shutter speeds which helps with fidgety kids ;)

Also the shallow depth of field will isolate the subject making for a nice portrait.

Focus on the eyes with single point focus.

And yeah, get down to their level.
 
I have a 50mm 1.4 that I swear to death by ...... however in the last couple of weeks I am discovering the limitations of a 50mm on a crop body .....

I think the 35mm might be a better choice if you can afford one with 1.8 or wider aperture

Indoors, children, unless you only want their head, there is only so much zooming out with your feet you can do
 
Freezing action inside is tough without upping the iso so far it degrades image quality so use a flash and bounce to improve IQ.
 
Like someone said they will be more candids at 19 month old but try and get outside as much as possible with good light you will get better shutter speeds . Think about your surroundings nothing cluttered in backgrounds or use a wide open aperture and most of all have fun there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a picture up on your wall of your own children that you took. It took me 6 months to achieve this good luck
 
Take LOTS of pics - get them used to the camera always being there and they'll soon forget all about it - and yes the 50mm f1.8 is a good lens for that especially if you want to capture expressions it also has the added advantage that you're not continually trying to adjust the zoom and often missing a great expression.

.
 
The problem I've found when using such a wide aperture is it has such a small dof. This creates problems of its own when focusing on a moving subject. Bounced flash works best for me.
 
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