Photographing A Child At A Birthday Party
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!
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!
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
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