A couple of weeks ago (it takes me some time to get around to blogging) I did a photoshoot for my sister’s NCT group in Bradford-on-Avon, and some of there connections. There were a mix of ages there, from 9 weeks up to a couple of years old. There’s not too much to say about the shoot really, other than it was great fun, and a nice opportunity to play with my neice. But here are a few observations about baby and toddler photography, which although not coming directly from this shoot, were evident during it:

Babies who are six to nine months old are generally the easiest to photograph: they can sit up unaided, but hopefully are too young to crawl/run off; and there attention can usually be held by a few simple toys keeping them happy. If they aren’t hungry or tired, they will usually be reasonably happy and smile/giggle a lot. A really wonderful age. If your child is this age, contact me now to book a shoot!

Really tiny babies can be a challenge becuase they are so very dependent, and usually find it hard to connect to anyone else other than their mother, particularly when the stranger has a black box attached to their face. That is why you’ll see a lot of baby photos focused on cute little features such as the hands and feet.

Joanna decides that the shoot is over and it's time Daddy puts the lens cap back on

Toddlers become challenging again as they know their own mind, and choose not to co-operate if they don’t want to be photographed. By two most kids have also learnt how to acheive a very fake looking camera smile. But that only makes successful photoshoots with toddlers all the more rewarding. My top tips for toddler photography are:

  1. Get them involved. Ask them to press the shutter button a few times. It make it more exciting when they feel they can take turns being the photographer. (Or bring a toy camera for them to use)
  2. Allow them just to play in the studio (getting mum & dad involved to0), and just take photos of the kids doing what they do best. Don’t expect them to pose.
  3. Have ridiculous hair like me, they’ll assume you are a clown and smile! Well, it gets children looking at me in a slightly puzzled way anyway.

The photos in this post are of my children, as I didn’t ask permission of any of the parents there to post their photos publicly. The gallery of the photoshoot in the client-area is password protected for the same reason.

Baby and Toddler photography

2 thoughts on “Baby and Toddler photography

  • June 5, 2009 at 8:52 pm
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    Aww John is looking really cute! But… wait… is he a bit GINGER? where did that come from?! 😉

  • June 8, 2009 at 8:48 am
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    Wow, what a fab photo of John! Very impressed mate, very impressed.

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