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Hello friends,

Have done this before but always looking to improve.
Any tips on taking candid pics of small kids/babies (apart from the basics of shooting height, DOF, etc?
No studio work here - mostly at social functions, etc?
All comments are much appreciated.

They move really fast so choose a lens with quick autofocus. I did some candids with an 85/1.4 and it was too SLOW. Babies, I don't think you will have an issue.

If indoors or dark, shoot with flash in M mode to allow higher shutter speeds.

I don't shoot kids often, maybe Yellow15 can help you out.

hey arcspacE,
some tips for kids/babies candid photos:

1.Unless you are stuck in a smaller room, shoot them from a longer distance and use a longer lens, my 70-200 f/2.8 and 85 f/1.4 are my favourite lens for shooting kids/babies. Kids usually become quite nervous and their face/smile just freeze when you get too close to them. Using a longer lens allows them to stay more natural. There are exceptions of course, some kids LOVE to pose in front of cameras and can give you silly poses/faces which is just great.
For new born babies, I can shoot from a much closer distance so I would use 50 f/1.4 and 24-70 f/2.8

2. Predict their movement and act fast! Don't wait until they did something then plan your shoot as you'll most likely miss the shot. You plan and move before they move.

3. Use a fast shutter speed.Kids moves all the time and they moves quickly, so try to use a shutter speed as fast as possible if you want a sharp picture. It's not rare that i have to shoot at ISO6400 with my 85 1.4f lens (at f/1.4) when i'm shooting indoor so i can get a fast enough shutter speed to avoid too much motion blur.

4. If i have to use flash, i only use TTL mode. Kids moving/jumping/crawling/running around all the time, it's hard enough to just follow them and keep them in the frame, so i just let the camera to take care of the flash power for me.


Shooting kids photo is a lot of fun, but very tired too as you'll have to run, jump, crawl and play with them all the time!!

Thanks for the info, guys.
Really appreciate your input.
Just confirms that a 85 prime is essential.
Will consider all points.
Thanks.

Hey yellow,
I have photo studio but when kids/babies are coming for taking photos.on that i am confusing only at time of baby photo taking. but now i have read your tips about kids which are for kids.thanks for information i am really glad now.

Cheers.

Hmmm...
I think I'll take my 50 1.8 for a spin this weekend.
What's good apperture for such portraits?

(11-13-2009 12:35 AM)ArcspacE Wrote: [ -> ]Hmmm...
I think I'll take my 50 1.8 for a spin this weekend.
What's good apperture for such portraits?

Personally, if i was shooting strobes 2.8 to 4. No flash i would shoot 1.8-2.8.

Just my opinion!

Thanks, CTM.
1.8 is shallow though!!
I'll try anything up to 5.6 and see how it goes, I guess.

Just use the largest aperture you can which can still give you "sharp eyes" in the pictures. It really depends on your lens, camera, skills and the kid.

For me, if the kid is not jumping/running around too quickly , i use f/1.4-f/2.0 with my 85 f/1.4, or f/2.8 with my 70-200
if the kid is running around, then i use f/2.8-f/4.x for those kind of photos..

This is a picture from the photoshoot i did for my friend few weeks ago.



The father was swinging his daughter. So the distance between me and them was keep changing at a moderate speed.
I shot this photo with my 85 f/1.4 at f/2.8 and I focus on the daughter's eye. Because the depth of field is still a bit shallow at f/2.8, I have to time the shoot at the right time so the daughter and the father are line up on the same plane (i.e. same distance from me) to get them both in focus.

Thanks for the input guys.
Will let you know how it goes.