How to take better pictures of your kids (part one)

Yesterday, I sent out an email and asked you to pretend I was Google.

Ask me any and everything you can think of to help you achieve the kinds of photos you want to take.

Thank you for sending me your replies! Many of you said you are mostly snapping pictures throughout your day with your iPhone. No worries, Momma. Let's answer a common question and start with these five tips you can use with any camera:

How can I take better pictures of my kids?

First things first - Clean Your Lens

Sticky fingers + teething babies + bottomless diaper bags and purses + messy kitchen counters all equal a dirty & smudged camera lens. Before you snap a picture, take a quick minute to wipe off your camera lens.

Use Natural Light

Turn off that flash. Trust me. When you're inside, turn off the lights, open the curtains, and let that heavenly sunshine fill the room! When you're outside, you'll find dreamy golden light an hour after sunrise and again an hour before sunset.

Get Down

Literally. Get down on the floor. Look around from your child's perspective. Snap some shots of how they see the world. Trees are taller & the sky is bigger. 

Focus on the Eyes

I usually narrow in my focus on my child's eyes. (On your iPhone, just tap the eye closest to you on the screen.) Bonus points when you capture a little twinkle in their eye - photographers call those catchlights.

Get Closer

Step in a little closer. Document the details - fingers, toes, wisps of hair, eyelashes. In my experience, when possible, you have better image quality when you move your feet rather than zoom in with your lens to get closer. 

Let's stop there for now, friends. I'll share the final five tips to answer today's question here on the blog next Tuesday. If any of this has been helpful, please share this post. I plan to follow up with video demonstrations and examples as well!

Until then, I'd love to connect with you and exchange kindred stories on Facebook & Instagram (here, too). I'm so thankful you're here and we're having this conversation together. After all...

Friendship is the finest balm,
Kat