Years before my husband and I had kids, I asked him to get me a fancy camera for Christmas. We knew we wanted to have kids in the future, and I wanted a nice camera that I could learn all about before kids so we could always have beautiful photos of our kids. I spent so much time learning all about the camera during that time. And I like to think that all my work paid off, because now I have beautiful photos of my children.
I regularly take milestone photos of my kids, especially during their first year. It can definitely be difficult to get a small child to agree to pictures though. Over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks to make it easy on me and the kids. Of course, my kids are used to me taking pictures so they can be very cooperative sometimes. But other times, they are extremely uncooperative, and I still manage to get a few good pictures.
A couple weeks ago, I took some milestone photos before the new school year starts. So it is the perfect time for me to jot down some of my biggest tips for getting beautiful milestone portraits of your kids. Read through the tips below, and comment below if this helps! I hope you can get beautiful photos of your kids that you will cherish for years.
Don’t Make It A Big Production
Seriously. It doesn’t need to be a big production. It might feel like it needs to be. But I have found that if I make it a big deal, my kids are less cooperative. We’ll get more into this later. But you don’t need the perfect outfit or location to take a beautiful picture of your kids. Don’t go over the top.
Anytime I take milestone portraits of my kids, I try to keep it less than 10 minutes. Anything too long, and we all just get annoyed with each other. It is quick, fun and simple. And because we do this regularly, and I make it no big deal, my kids get more and more willing to cooperate. I promise, you can take great pictures in such a small amount of time.
Let Them Have a Turn
Kids love to do anything you are doing. And I find it helps my kids cooperate during portraits if they also get a turn with the camera. So I take a few pictures, then give them a turn to take pictures of me. My kids love this! Kids love to copy what you are doing. It is so fun for them when you let them do what you do. It does make me nervous to hand my camera over to them. But it’s always fun to see how good there are getting with the camera.
Equipment
Don’t feel like you have to have a nice, expensive camera to take beautiful portraits of your kids. I do prefer to use my nice camera (I use a Nikon D750 with a 35mm lens, and I LOVE it). But most phone cameras now have great capabilities. If you are using your phone, play around with the “pro” and “portrait” settings over the next few days until you feel more comfortable with it. You can still take an amazing picture without a fancy camera.
After I take the portraits, I upload them to Adobe Lightroom, and apply my favorite profile and preset, and fix the white balance. You totally do not have to do this. But if you do, don’t go crazy. You don’t need to photoshop anything. Keep it simple. The profiles I use are from the Fujifilm Pro Pack from The Archetype Process.
Location
You don’t need a million props or the prettiest backdrop for your pictures. The focus of the pictures will be your child, not the location of the pictures. I like to choose a simple, clean spot. Sometimes this is in a cute little corner of our backyard with trees, and overgrown bushes. Or sometimes we do pictures with my kids jumping on my bed (their personal favorite). The last time I did milestone portraits, I had my kids sit on our play couch in our living room, next to a blank wall.
I do like to choose a spot with good lighting. If you are taking portraits inside, choose a room that gets lots of natural light. If you are outside, I like to opt for a well shaded area. And I like to keep the sun behind my kids so they aren’t squinting. Lighting can feel really confusing and frustrating at first, but I find that it is one of the most important elements of getting a good picture. There are lots of really great YouTube videos that will help you learn the basics of lighting. But just know that it also takes some trial and error. You’ll get better and better each time.
Outfits
Again, don’t make this a big production. Sometimes we just go with whatever my kids are wearing that day or one of their current favorite outfits. But some of my favorites are just a plain white tee, with some basic pants or shorts. There are days when getting them to change just for pictures seems like too over the top, so we go with whatever they are already wearing. They also love to pick their own outfits. I just try to avoid anything that will pull the attention of the pictures away from their cute faces. Honestly though, I take these milestone pictures often enough that if the outfit isn’t my top choice, it’s not a huge deal. We’ll take more pictures soon enough.
Have Fun!
Make faces, tell jokes, tickle. Just have fun with your kids! Whatever gets them to give their best smiles and laughs. If you just say “okay, sit there and smile for the picture,” your kids are going to be so bored. We tell jokes, give tickles, jump on the bed, and have fun together. Just try to make sure every one has a great time. It’s just a picture, so there really is no need to get stressed or frustrated about it. If anyone is upset, we can stop and try again another day.
I really hope these tips can help you take beautiful milestone portraits of your kids at home. Milestone pictures are so fun to look back on years later. But they really don’t need to be daunting or frustrating. They can be fun, simple and beautiful. I can’t wait to hear how these tips work for you. But if you read these tips, and aren’t feeling up to milestone portraits of your kids on your own, I’d love to help! Check out my photography pricing and send a session inquiry here.
Leave a Reply