Photographing your own children...the challenge!

Livin The Dream

Livin The Dream

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Kris
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Kind of a response to @Wilkol post re. the same title. I've had my eye on this little chair at my sister-in-laws for a while, and so got around to using it the other day. I wanted something more serious looking, but I got the usual little girl that just wouldn't sit still, take direction and generally just dance around. Other people's are so much easier! Anyway, the first one was the closest to serious looking I got but not sure which is my overall preference, still feeling that I didn't quite nail it. So, what's your preference? Hoping to expand on this with a few styled shoots this year ie. "make more of an effort"

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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I like them all, but 2 and 3 are my favourites :) Lovely.
 
I like the first one the most. I also like 4 and 5. I'm not too keen on the 'forced smile-teeth clamped together' look of 2 and 3 which I notice a lot of children do.
 
4 is very good. I have had great results by telling my kids they are allowed to shout/scream rather than smile. Firstly they enjoy it and very quickly it turns to laughter netting some very natural looking shots.

The screaming shots are fun too and and often can’t be told apart from the laughing ones!
 
Thanks everyone for stopping by and commenting.

Solo man said:
I like the first one the most. I also like 4 and 5. I'm not too keen on the 'forced smile-teeth clamped together' look of 2 and 3 which I notice a lot of children do.
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Yup, I’m with you on that point, it’s the fake smile that I’m not sold on.

Brazo said:
4 is very good. I have had great results by telling my kids they are allowed to shout/scream rather than smile. Firstly they enjoy it and very quickly it turns to laughter netting some very natural looking shots.

The screaming shots are fun too and and often can’t be told apart from the laughing ones!
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I do try similar. There’s a balance with being silly and winding them up to the point where you don’t get anything from them. She was too hyper by the time we had finished.
 
The lighting in these is lovely. I love 1 and especially 4. The only minor thing for me is that you can't see both feet - which probably sounds a bit weird but it was just something i noticed. A great set of photographs though - I wish I could get anything near this quality of my kids.
 
Nguss said:
The lighting in these is lovely. I love 1 and especially 4. The only minor thing for me is that you can't see both feet - which probably sounds a bit weird but it was just something i noticed. A great set of photographs though - I wish I could get anything near this quality of my kids.
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Thanks for commenting. Someone else said about the feet in the second one to me. I bought that little dress for something else I had in mind, but stood up.
Anyway, you can easily do this kind of thing yourself. There’s plenty of material around to read and you can do similar without too much outlay. Getting the lighting right is 90% of it. These were done in my living room with a 100cm softbox and umbrella as on-axis fill but I quite often just use one light and a reflector. A roll of dark grey paper background and you’re away.
 
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Nguss said:
That is really helpful - I have an umbrella and was interested in trying this - I may give it a go this year as these are superb.
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It’s not so difficult really. You don’t need light meters (they’re helpful for speed) you can just chimp it with the histogram. Just use a decent strobe with modelling light and use that to get the key light right. Concentrate on getting the catchlight in the 10 or 2 o’clock position and add some fill if you need/want. Plenty of youtube clips to watch too. It’s very rewarding when you get something you like.
 
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No 3 is my favorite but I’d be over the moon if I’d managed to capture any of these.

I have the same dream re styled shoots etc but the trouble I have is that my little girl will not wear anything we ask her to and dresses herself every day. As you can imagine, the outfits are not always particularly photogenic and I’m lucky if they even fit. She wore a 6-9 month tutu today over her 12-18 month leggings which were way too short and she’s 3.5!

Getting near her with a brush is also like wrestling a crocodile so most days she looks like she lives on the street!

But I’ll keep persevering and hope I get something even a fraction as good as yours.
 
Also, what backdrop is that you are using. I like it.

What sort of space do you work in. Do you have dedicated space or set up in your living room etc?
 
Mines not too dissimilar, it takes a lot of patience. Hoping to pinch some friends kids soon to see if I can use them to bring a little calm into these shoots.

The backdrop is just a roll of charcoal paper with a texture added in post. Here's an old pullback shot of the area. I cut my rolls down with a saw to around 2.1M so that I can squeeze them into my living room. It takes a fair but of rearranging of the room but it's worth it if I get something I like. Keep at it, you will get stuff you like in time. Alway's wanted to be able to do it and so I'll keep persevering.

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Wilkol said:
That’s great, thanks. I have a roll of charcoal so I could experiment with a bit of texture in post.
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Textures just break it up a little bit. I'd love to treat myself to a painted backdrop which I'll probably do this year at some point, finally found some that won't need a remortgage.
This was actually the first time I've specifically bought a cheap eBay dress for the purpose. Plan to buy a few little props and dresses this year to give me a theme but also make me do it more too.
 
All super. But #4 tops it for me. Wouldn’t mind betting it’s really how her character is.
 
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