Photographing Children With Animals
January 27, 2012
"Come here, little ducky!"
Many children, even young ones, enjoy the experience of being with an animal. If you are the parent or the grandparent of these children, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to get some very special pictures of the little ones you love so dearly with some animals. However, photographing children with animals requires a sense of awareness of your surroundings.
If you go to the zoo, the circus, a friend’s home who owns a pet, or even to a farm, take your best camera and an external flash with you to create some great pictures of your child with animals. The first thing to be aware of, even before taking the pictures, is to watch both the child and the animal to make sure that they are compatible with each other. Some animals just do not want to be bothered by anyone, and for the child to pursue interacting with that animal might be dangerous. Then there is the issue that the child must treat the animal properly by being patient, and not teasing the animal. Teasing animals can also result in a very dangerous situation, and even injury to your child. I know this firsthand, because I teased our German shepherd “Nip” when I was a young child, and he came over and bit me in the head!
Establish A Safe Environment. . .
When you have established that the environment is as safe as it can be for the moment, then get out your digital SLR camera, and attach your external flash. I like to use my favorite Canon 5D Mark II camera and an external Canon speedlite 580 EX II. Outdoors, the speedlite flash is used for fill flash to balance the bright light of the sun, making the shadows on the child’s face less prominent. Indoors, you can use the Canon speedlite by moving the head to bounce the light of a white (or light colored) ceiling or wall to create more even and natural overall lighting.
Snuggling a baby bunny rabbitt
If there are a lot of obstructions nearby, the next thing to consider is framing your picture so that the unwanted obstructions are not in your picture if at all possible. The biggest mistake that I see when other people are photographing children with animals, is that they have included way too much extra space in their images. Then, pay attention to where the light is coming from, even inside a house, because on a sunny day a lot of light might be streaming through a window. Try to put this light behind and at an angle to your subjects. Be aware that this bright light is going to greatly influence the exposure of your picture. Focus carefully near the child’s eyes, and take the picture. Then immediately check the histogram on the camera to make sure some of your image is not completely washed out. If it is, then you can use your exposure compensation on your digital SLR camera to give the next image less exposure to the light, or you can use the settings on your Canon speedlite to reduce the amount of light that it puts out, or a combination of both, if it is truly needed. Then retake your pictures of children with animals.
If you look carefully at the picture below of little Grace with “Bonnie” the kitty, you will notice some haze in the picture that the sunlight produces. When I took this picture I did notice the haze which is caused by dust particles floating in the air which are being highlighted by the sunlight. I had a “Haze 1″ filter on my lens, but now I see that I probably should have used a “Haze 2″ filter to help clear it out. This is one more reason to use a digital SLR camera to take pictures of children with animals.
Make Your Child Feel Very Special. . .
Five year old "Grace" with "Bonnie" the kitty.
As you are photographing children with animals, observe carefully the interactions that are occurring: The way the animal likes to be nuzzled, or the way the chicken crouches down to be petted. Sometimes, an animal will even lick your child’s face. What wonderful expressions there are to capture! When you download your images, you should have something very delightful that you can have made into a wonderful canvas print that you can hang in your home; maybe even in the child’s room. What a great way to reinforce to a child of just how very special you think they are!
Remember, keep taking lots and lots of photographs of your kids. You will be glad you did!
Betty Muscott, Child Photographer
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Photographing A Child At A Birthday Party
January 20, 2012
Here comes the cake!
Photographing a child at a birthday party is something parents and grandparents should plan ahead to do. Birthday parties for young children are all the rage right now in our culture. Those of us from a previous generation of young children would usually let a young child sneak a bit of frosting from their birthday cake and they were allowed to enjoy a piece of cake in whatever manner they pleased, but today a young child is allowed to destroy the whole cake! Especially on the first birthday.
As a parent or a grandparent you won’t want to miss getting at least a few very special pictures of your child at a birthday party. Even though the conditions are not usually very ideal for photography, please don’t leave your best camera home. You will need some of the flexibility that it provides!
Our little granddaughter just turned two, and her mother gave her a party inviting 32 people to their little house. Well, the little girl was very fortunate in that all the guests were not able to make it. As it turned out, just the right number came including a few very special adults, and just two more children. One child for every year of her age right now!
Expect Pandemonium!!!
At most birthday parties of young children, you can expect to have one thing for sure, and that is pandemonium! So you have to be prepared for it. Because my battery was dying for my Canon 5D Mark II camera, I asked my husband if I could use his Canon 10D with a fully charged battery for this event. I have had my 5D Mark II camera for a few months now, but this was a reminder to buy a spare battery for it. I also wanted to use his camera case because it was much smaller than any of mine, and I knew that the house was small, and there would not be much room for big stuff! As it turned out the kids climbed all over his camera bag and my purse while chasing after the kitty cat. His camera does not have an external flash, so I quickly put one of my Canon 540EX flash units into the bag.
Everyone singing to Piper!
When we arrived at the party, I got out the camera right away and attached the flash unit to it. The ceiling was white, so I knew that bouncing the flash by adjusting the flash unit head would work real well. When you bounce the flash, you get a much softer, more natural effect in your pictures. Also, you usually get much more even overall lighting, because depending upon what kind of light the camera sees, it can give you an inaccurate exposure which usually results in a very dark background. Then I checked the camera to make sure all the settings were the way that I wanted them. This is especially important, when a camera has more than one user.
Piper blowing out her birthday candle.
Now, it was time to sit down enjoy the party and wait. Wait for what? Well, wait to see just what happens naturally. One of the little girls was petting “Bonnie” the kitty cat. Now, here is a great subject; little kids with animals. Just pay attention to your histogram to make sure that the pictures you are taking are not washed out, or overexposed from being close to your subject in a tight space. You can either knock down your exposure on your external flash, or use exposure compensation on your camera to lessen the exposure (as long as your shutter speed does not fall below 1/60 second). Look for my next post on little five year old “Grace” with “Bonnie” the kitty cat!
Have Your Camera Ready For What’s Coming Next. . .
Did you make a wish?
Then, it was time for the candles and the cake. This is where you want to have your attention focused on the reactions of the child as they anticipate the excitement that they are about to experience. Take a picture before the cake arrives, but when they see it coming, at least one with the candles lit, and one after they are blown out. You don’t want to miss any of the expressions! You can then arrange them to have them printed on a beautiful canvas print collage showing the succession of the expressions! What a wonderful gift that would be to a family member who loves that child very much on their very own special occasion!
Remember, keep taking lots and lots of photographs of your kids. You will be glad you did!
Betty Muscott, Child Photographer
ps: Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter “Real Kids Photography” here!
Capturing Photos Of Your Children Requires A Sense Of Urgency
January 10, 2012
My husband and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary in the Blue Ridge mountains of Ashville, North Carolina at the Biltmore Estate and were staying right on the grounds at the beautiful Biltmore Inn. The lobby of this beautiful hotel was all decorated for Christmas complete with a large tree and attractive toys around it, all from a bye gone era. In the evening I noticed one little boy, in his pajamas who was in the antique toy car playing. Later in the evening he was still on that car and obviously enjoying himself immensely. In the morning, again, I was surprised to find him still in his pajamas and playing on that antique car once again. What a great portrait opportunity, I thought to myself. Parents, in the business of life, don’t often get the chance to have those wonderful memories of their children, and all in a beautiful setting (created by someone else by the way) perfect for a very special portrait, and these parents and grandparents, if they were there, missed it!
After enjoying breakfast in the hotel dining room, my husband and I were strolling around the gorgeous hotel and I was taking pictures with my new treasure, now less than a year old, my Canon 5D Mark II, which is now my very, very favorite camera. I had to sell some unused cameras and lenses to be able to buy it, (can you guess that I have wanted it for a very long time) but now, I have it, and I needed to make it work for me as easily as the Canon D60 which I absolutely loved to use, and was now taking beautiful pictures for another family. Then I noticed some very smart parents and grandmother of a young 3 year old playing on one of the toys under the Christmas tree. They were interacting with him and taking some wonderful pictures and memories for their family. So, instinctively, I could not help myself. I had to take a picture! Why? Mostly, because I was so very proud of them!!
See The Precious Beauty Of A Fleeting Moment. . .
Matthew with his Grandmother
They saw what I have trained my eye to see: The precious beauty of a fleeting moment, and the willingness to do the work and make the effort to capture a wonderful relationship of the joy of loving a young child. They get it!!! And they had a nice digital SLR camera too! They weren’t pulling out their cell phone camera, or a point and shoot to use. They were willing to make the extra effort to create and get something very special, and then to have the quality present should they want to have that portrait made into a beautiful canvas print that could be enjoyed for many lifetimes!
Later, the family, my husband and I went outside to enjoy the view of the mountains, and the mother of this little boy had the boy’s father run around with him while she took some action pictures. Again, I was blown away, because I rarely see this done. Not many parents even think to do it. If the parents and grandparents of young children were aware of the short amount of time that they have to get these delightful pictures, they would all want to make that effort right now.
Daddys Home Watercolor Canvasized
One last point, but very important. If you look at the two pictures on the right side that I took, you will notice that I was not in a position to take the one of mom and Matthew posing for the camera and which Grandma was now taking. You should take those shots as well. However if you look very carefully at the portrait of Matthew with his grandmother you will note there is something different – they were interacting with each other. This is very important because taking a photograph of the child and adult interacting can make some of your pictures precious to you, because they show emotions.
Mommy Looking At The Camera
Isn’t that what we as human beings are all about; how we feel about each other and the love that we share!
Remember, keep taking lots and lots of photos of your children. You will be glad you did!
Betty Muscott, Child Photographer
ps: Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter “Real Kids Photography” here!
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