Photographing Children With Animals
"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!
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.
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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