family photography and difficult children

[Intuition]

I’m having a reoccurring problem with difficult kids. (I’m not charging for these shoots, but I hope to soon -_- ) Twice now I’ve gotten a group of kids ( oddly the same make up too 2 older boys and a younger sister) and they’ve been difficult to get them to stop moving for even a moment, or get them looking in the same direction, because honestly by the end of the shoot I’m happy if they are looking left of camera, as long as they all are. Internally I start getting a bit flustered and panicky and start letting important things slip, like composition or even the basic creativity, in a mad dash to just get SOMETHING usable. I’ve tried bribery ( we can play on the jungle gym as soon as you stay still and smile for a few shots), mom’s have threatened, so on. It makes me so defeated when I look through the images later that it takes me forever to edit them (A perk of doing this for free, limited expectations on time frame) because I’m doing so much fixing or switching heads.

Anyway the point is, any family photographers have any useful tips? Not doing kids/toddlers really isn’t an option for me, since I market to the military ( totally a military wife with a camera haha) but honestly it’s not my favorite age. I’d much rather do infants/preteens/teens

[Silver]

I have the mom and dad play with them.  Like tickle them and wrestle.  That way you’ll get candids the parents love.  With one client, I have them set up a tea party and mum and daughter had a tea party and were pretending.  With boys dad had to wrestle and catch and mom had to tickle.  They turned out great!

[Silver]

You have got to be quick.  Not keep them longer than maybe 30 to 40 minutes.  And I find if I say to them “can I take a nice picture of you? Then we can have a silly picture?” They will sit.  But not for longer than one shot.  LOL

[cameraclicker]

I agree with Silver.  With your own kids, keep a camera ready and shoot constantly.  They get used to it in time.  With other people’s kids, where there is usually a time constraint, have someone or something to keep them engaged and shoot with a longer lens so you are not in their radar too much.  Sometimes showing them the back of the camera works.  It depends on the kids.

[Intuition]

I don’t have kids, probably why I identify with older kids much better. I used the some silly some serious technique and it usually works for me, but not this time. I think it was the fact that there were three, and this last time they were all 6 and under. the first one that gave me trouble the oldest (my godson) was ten, but autistic. That lends itself to all sorts of issues, but actually the middle child gave me the most grief with mugging for the camera EVERY time haha. It’s just disgruntling 🙁

[emf]

but actually the middle child gave me the most grief with mugging for the camera EVERY time haha. It’s just disgruntling

 

haha – I have this problem, with my own kid! She used to be the perfect model but now is far to interested in my camera and 99% of the photos I have of her are with outstretched, blurry arms reaching for my camera. I don’t have a solution as of yet, but one idea I’ll try is to use a longer lens and try and go for more candid shots. Another solution I’m thinking is a cheapy p&s for her, so we can take turns taking photos. I got my niece a kid camera, which was expensive and terrible quality (well, I wasn’t expecting good, but still). So I’m thinking just buy a secondhand 20 pounds p&s instead – so long as it’s pink she’ll think it’s the bees knees and hopefully stop trying to grab my camera!

Another thing I can think of is from an interview I saw of Henri Cartier Bresson – where he said one trick he used – for all his portrait subjects – was to ‘take the photo’ first – formally, and say ok, photo taken. Then the subject would relax and he would just start chatting with them, engaging them etc. and all the while, continue shooting them. but without making it obvious. I suppose this depends on your camera and set up though as to how surreptitiously you can shoot.

Good luck 🙂

 

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

Not having your own kids puts you at a huge disadvantage when it comes to dealing with them.

When every we get a family in the studio we shoot the kids individually FIRST.  I’ve never not managed to get a half decent shot this way.

Then if the kids won’t sit still or all look in the same direction, at least you do have a good shot of each of them. And if you’re clever you can sell them 3 prints in a big frame. (Always have one handy to show the parents).

But don’t forget that everyone has a half decent camera these days so the chances are that they are coming to you because they can’t get a good shot of all three.  In other words – it’s a hopeless case!

[cameraclicker]

You might like this:  http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/winston-churchill-by-yousef-karsh/

And, we were at a silk plant in Suzhou, near Shanghai, where I saw this little girl.  The way they get silk and turn it into threads was fascinating but I had no interest in the bedding so I had a chat with the little girl and her mom.  We were both carrying Canon Rebels so we had something in common.  The camera belonged to the little one!  She showed me some of her photos on the back of her camera and she was much better than the fauxtographers here.

[emf]

That’s such a great anecdote CC – love the quote about a ‘roaring lion’!

[Intuition]

This is probably the best of all three for the whole shoot. and I can’t stand all the cut off fingers ( which is me not watching and a badly chosen angle to try and get a tank in the picture) and what not. -_- http://www.flickr.com/photos/31521328@N04/9576846427/

[cassie]

Little kids are simply very difficult to photograph. Period. Especially if you are trying to get nice pictures of them sitting down. My two year old NEVER sits unless she is strapped in her carseat. A picture like the one you have linked would just result in disaster for her. I did some for a couple friends and it was much easier to get pictures of the kids standing/ playing together, etc. I follow my toddler all the time for her pictures all over the place and then click away. Spray and pray isn’t the exact right term for what I do for her pictures- it’s not quite that bad- but I do expect to toss a lot of hers out.

When dealing with little kids, it is pretty safe to assume that not all of them are going to be doing what you want them to do at the same time. I’ve decided there is a reason my mom only has ONE picture of all four of us kids when we were little that we are all actually LOOKING at the camera and smiling. And don’t even ask how my attempts at getting a nice picture of my toddler and 9 month old together is going. I have lots of pictures of them together, and actually some cute ones, just not a single one with them both actually looking at me looking pleasant lol. I could care less about them actually smiling, I just want a picture of them both looking at me without one of them in the process of running away from me.

I did see a thing about putting a pez dispenser on your hot shoe though and randomly dispersing candy out when the kids behave, but I have yet to try that method 🙂

It definitely is an advantage to have your own kids if you want to shoot kids/ families because you get a lot more practice figuring out what they’ll actually cooperate for, and really thinking fast and shooting fast.

 

ETA here is one that I did for my friend of her four kids that I think turned out really well. Her son didn’t cooperate at all for portraits but he thought jumping was cool so it worked. It took like maybe 12 tries before we got this but it got the toddler tuckered out enough that he let me get a everybody standing still picture too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64132459@N05/9324000346/

[emf]

I don’t mind cut off fingers so much. I like the expressions of the two boys – especially the one on the right. But I’m not to sure about the little girl’s though. Also the tones seem a bit flat and over exposed in places; imo, I’m not sure there is enough variety of tones or contrast for this to work as a black and white conversion and feel it may work better in colour – i.e. there may be more of a colour contrast than a tonal one. Or perhaps shooting it at an earlier or later time of the day when the sun is more at an angle and creates more interesting shadows.

I’m sorry to say I also find the b/g a little distracting – there’s not enough of it, or a wider DOF for it to be of interest as an environmental portrait, so as it is, it’s just takes my eye from the subjects – especially things such as the white vertical and the other bright areas which grab my eye. I think a more OOF b/g would emphasise the subjects better.

Sorry, hope you don’t mind me saying this – I’m only a noobie anyway – so feel free to ignore everything 🙂

[emf]

 

I did see a thing about putting a pez dispenser on your hot shoe though and randomly dispersing candy out when the kids behave, but I have yet to try that method

Oh my god – that’s genius!

 

 

[Intuition]

I enjoy the black and white, but here’s the color for comparison.

I will never say no to a critique, and I never discount a critique because of ‘noobie’ status, since I don’t have to paint like Dali to love his work 😉 Plus I market to families, not art majors, so their opinion is just as important, all be it often misguided. The background is totally distracting. She wanted to take pictures with all the tanks and what not, and I was having issues with little kids and giant machines. We have some at a wooded area, but there was no getting them all together at that point. They also were taken at like 1100 am, which I know is horrible but my friend wouldn’t do early morning and i was only in town to visit my husband (who’s at training) and the evening was his. For this picture we did have a scrim up, but you can see the shade fall out on the left kid’s arm in the color more obvious.

[cassie]

One thing you will find as you shoot more kids- especially younger kids- is they aren’t really going to be cooperative in times where the outdoor lighting is best unfortunately. 11am is sort of a horrible time for pics of kids though- especially younger ones- because it’s almost lunch time. But definitely for mine, and most kids, they’re going to be most cooperative a little after breakfast or after their afternoon nap. Which means around 10 and around 3 which isn’t the best time of day for pictures ideally, so it will help to learn how to shoot in that harsher light. (This is after much observation working as a nursery aid at the Y for 3 years)

Waiting for evening light and little kids is just bad news bears when they are little. Anything after 6pm is meltdown city for me and all my friends.

[Author]

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