Family and Child Portrait Help

[ni_gentry]

Hi,<p>

I've just been asked to take some portraits of a family. <p>

They have a child who is about one year old. I think it will mostly

be group portraits, but probably some of just the child, child &

mother, etc. Although I've done many portraits of adults and groups

before, I've never done formal shots with very young children. I

love kids and am comfortable with them, but would really appreciate

any tips from anyone out there who does this a lot.....everything

including the psychological aspects and approach to dealing with

infants and families for a comfortable atmosphere... composition and

lighting techniques (strobe or available light?)... how long of a

lens to use for shooting a 1 year old... etc... The shoot will

likely be in the family's home.<p>

Thanks in advance!

[beno_t_marchal]

<p>I started into portraiture when I learned I would become a dad. My daughter is now

about one year old. So I have some experience but not tons of experience with portraiture.

<p>Make sure the child is comfortable and is enjoying him/herself. It took me a while to

realize that all the good sessions were the fun ones! With adults, they will pose even when

bored but a young child? Never! I give her toys or props and hope she will do something

meaningful but it never goes according to plans.

<p>On the lighting. I use diffusers because I believe a soft light looks better for a baby.

My "strategy" is:

<ul><li>light the whole set, avoid creating an hotspot (again soft light is best) so the

child can move around as she plays;</li>

<li>still try to introduce some direction to the light and place toys in the direction we

want the child to look at;</li>

<li>work fast, fire away (digital helps!). I may take anything from 30 to 100 and a typical

session is 40-50 shots which results in one or two keepers. Still aim for short sessions:

children that age have a short attention span. Mine changes her mind every few minutes or

so and is totally bored (not to mention tired from the strobes) after 30 minutes max.</li>

<li>start with the most important shot for the parents... it may be the only one you get</

li>

<li>unlike adults, children need no warm-up... to the contrary. When working with adults,

the first few shoots are usually so-so. They need time to get used to props or poses. With

my daughter it's just the opposite: the first minute when she sees an exciting new toys is

the one good minute.</li></ul>

<p>One last tip: typically I vary the toys/props during a session so my daughter is not

bored. I even have studio toys that she get when in the studio only so they are fresh to

her. You could ask the parents to bring new toys.

<p>Above all: make sure the child is comfortable and is enjoying him/herself. Listen to

the child, (s)he will tell you if something displease him/her. Sometimes a very small

change (removing a cable that scares him/her) makes all the difference.

<p>You can see the <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?

folder_id=480641">results in my gallery.</a>

<p>--ben

[derrick_morin___fallon__ne]

Lots of great tips from Ben. Young children are tough. I have found that it helps to have someone on your side - literally. Ask the family to envite someone to the shoot who the child will respond to (friend or relative) and will not be in the photo. This persons job is to stand behind you and draw the child's attention toward the camera while you shoot. This can help with allowing the other subjects to devote more attention to posing rather than focusing entirely on the child.

 

Like Ben said, biggest thing to remember is your widnow of oppurtunity will be early and fleeting! Good luck!

[daydreamsart]

Kids that age can get very uncooperative if they are tired. Try for a morning shoot or after nap time when the child is rested. Bring someone that is good with kids to help you. They can get the child's attention while you take the pictures. Their expressions are VERY fleeting, so press that shutter fast when the right moment happens. For lighting a fidgeting child, you need fast shutter speeds, like around 1/125. And with a group, you can't use a real large aperture or slow shutter speeds, so natural indoor light would be tough in most circumstances. Either set up strobes, or bounce the flash, or maybe you could do the shoot outdoors. If you are using a digital camera with the 1.6 crop factor, a 35 or 50mm lens would be good for a group of 3.<div></div>

[kim long- cincinnati, ohio]

In addition to the great advice already given, I would encourage you to get some tight close-up shots of the child's face as well. Perhaps even an "expression composite". The essence of the child at that age can be documented so effectively in facial expressions. I find that a rapid-fire (or close to it) approach works splendidly for this. You sift through your close-ups and find some adorable expressions you could have missed in a split second.

[ni_gentry]

Great advice so far... keep it coming!<p>

I will try to get in as many shots early as I can. The suggestion to have an assistant/friend is also great.<p>

Do you guys find that using strobe is okay for a 1-year old? Do they get frightened or affected in any bad way? I will check out my friend's home prior to shooting, but if the light happens to be too dim, is there a controlled continuous light source that might be better than strobe? Not hotlights, but maybe a flourescent panel or something that I could rent?

[ni_gentry]

... another thing regarding the lighting... they want black & white so color temp isn't really a problem.

[beno_t_marchal]

<p>I guess that by one a child will have seen many strobes or flash already so I would not

worry.<br>The parents may have a different opinion, you should double-check with them.

I know that I infuriated friends and familly by refusing any strobe or flash for the first

months.

<p>It appears the strobes are not causing more disconfort than they would for an adult

(few people like strobes anyway) but I noticed that my daughter tires faster with strobes

than with ambiant light. When using strobes, the session is shorter and it is best if she is

very well rested.

<p>Since you'll be shooting B&W (whether film or digital), you could just turn on all their

lights and push up the ISO. Or take some ambiant shots and backup with strobes. Have a

meter with you when you visit them and take a measurement.

<p>--ben

[adriabrown]

Hi Ni!

There are some awesome answers here, just wanted to add my 0.02! This is mostly geared toward some techniques I use when taking children's portraits. (I can't help you on the lighting though!) I have been photographing mainly children and families for five years and the most important thing I've learned is that eye contact and your smile will help set the tone of your sitting. When dealing with the younger set, I ALWAYS squat or kneel down to thier level, and talk with them (ask thier name, age, what they got for christmas etc) to get them warmed up. I smile alot and look them in the eye to let them know that I'm not a mean person. If I'm dealing with a baby I ask Mom or Dad the name and age of the child, and if they are mobile yet--those toddlers can be a handful (better get those tennis shoes in gear!) ;). I'll smile alot at the baby and make some sort of compliment and use the baby's name too. Since I work for a studio, I always have a box of tricks to keep the kids attention. You may want to keep a few things stashed to use in case the children get sidetracked...rubber ducky that squeaks, a rattle, bright colored cloth (good for peek-a-boo or just to get attention) and your last resort..bubbles (be ultra-careful with these!). During the shoot, smile alot at the children, show them you're having a good time with what they are doing, and throw out those compliments (what kid can't resisit a good pat on the back?).

I wish you the best of luck on this shoot...I'm sure you'll do well!

Adrianne

[jennifer valencia]

hi Ni,

there ARE some great suggestions here! A take a lot of kid portraits too, and here are a few more things:

 

I like to have someone stand right behind my shoulder and wave a toy at the group so the kid looks at my lens. Otherwise I don't get eye contact from the little tykes. Once or twice I had my husband (wonderful, patient man) hold up our dachshund and balance it on top of my head while I was taking some especially difficult portraits. This got the child to look right at me and giggle, so I got a great shot!

 

I like Adrianne's ideas of going to the child's level and talking and establishing friendliness. I do that too, and it really works. I smile a LOT, talk in a bright, gentle happy voice, and just act nice.

 

Also, with the parents' approval, I bribe with candy - suckers or chocolate. (Be careful and ask first; some parents don't want kids to have candy, or some kids may have nut/chocolate allergies, etc.)

 

In the absolute WORST cases, I have to cut a head out of an "almost good" picture in photoshop and move it to the portrait I like. But I HATE to do this as it is time consuming and "cheating", and much prefer to do the work upfront to get the kid looking at me and smiling.

 

good luck! :)

Jennifer

[jennifer valencia]

hi Ni,

I have one more comment: I've found that kids who are developmentally disabled sometimes respond very poorly to the flash. I was shooting one little tyke who gasped and bobbed his head sharply every time my strobes went off. Then he'd blink and shake. So we could not use strobes with him! But I've never had that issue before; most kids seem to be fine with the flash. They just get bored REALLY quickly, so as other posters mentioned, take lots of pictures and take them early! :)

 

Jennifer

[ni_gentry]

Thank you!

[alexander_havriluk]

I took a lot of children pictures. I use different sources of light - ambient + fill flash or large umbrella. If it is a formal shoot then likely parents will hold the baby and you will arrange them in some pose. For informals, there's a different strategy. I did a lot of informal shots and most of the time I capture the moments when children are doing something, like playing, etc. Try to set up really relaxing and easy going environment and try to capture moments of their joy and spirit of their family. I like those type of images the most since they are full of life vs formals when they are very static. Check out my gallery at http://alexphotostudio.smugmug.com/gallery/738938.

 

Contact me if you have any questions.

Alex.