Tips for Photographing Kids Part 1 – Lucy Baum Photography

I had the pleasure of having Lucy Baum of Lucy Baum Photography  over at my house the other day.  She’s a wedding and family photographer based here in Montreal.  In addition to photography, she also offers home workshops and community workshops on a wide range of topics including camera basics, photos for business and photographing kids.

I really liked the idea of learning how to photograph kids and asked Lucy if she would stop by and show me a few tips and tricks.  She was a wealth of information, and even though I’ve taken a few photography courses there were definitely a few a-ha moments that really made me think about my photography.

Lucy was kind enough to give me a bit of a mini-workshop and share some of her tips and tricks.  I’ll share a few today, and a few tomorrow!

Intent

The first thing Lucy really talked to me about was intent.  Think about your shot and what you want to portray.  For example, in the above shot she’s portraying the pure joy my son is feeling.  She explained that that joy is in the face – I don’t need to capture his shoes.  The closer perspective really brings us into that funny moment with him.  Think about the story you want to get across.

Rule of Thirds

The second major thing was to move children out of the middle of the frame to show a sense of movement.  Lucy carefully explained to me how to do this while still keeping my son in focus.

Perspective

A lot of people are hesitant to move around and get on the same level as their kiddos which results in a lot of top down shots.  I usually get down to my son’s level but Lucy showed me how to take it one step further and portray a story by using even more levels such as shooting at shoe level, or from the ground.  You can see how her use of perspective above tells a story – in the top frame he’s looking in a direction with his arm reaching and the second tells us he’s dropped something (actually he threw his bowl down below the deck!)  She also used lines here to lead to his face – both his legs and the deck railing.

Check out tomorrow’s post for more tips!

If you’d like to reach Lucy Baum either for photography, to host a workshop or to join a community workshop please see her contact details below: