Let’s face it mama, the urge to always want to take a cute photo of your littles isn’t going anywhere soon.
But let me throw an idea out there… what if instead of trying to capture every cute moment with your kids, you learn how to take better photos.
You focus more on quality over quantity — just like the good ol’ days of film.
It’s time to uplevel your mom-topgraphy skills!
Just by implementing a few tweaks and changes to how you take photos, you can start capturing really great photos of your kids in a way that tells the story of the moment.
And then, you can put your phone away and enjoy the moment.
Give yourself permission to pull out your camera, take a few good photos. Then put your phone away knowing the moment has been captured.
In this blog, I’m going to be sharing 5 tips to take better photos. Just by being aware of these few tips, you can start taking better photos of your kids for the very next time you pull out your camera.
Once you learn to implement these tips, then be sure to grab the complementary BGP Checklist on how to *actually* print and enjoy your photos. So, you can enjoy your new beautiful photos in print all around your home! You can grab the guide below:
1. Using Natural Light
I specialize in being a natural light photographer. Which means all my sessions are shot in outdoor, open air environments. I love shooting with natural light becuase it keeps all the skin tones looking very natural, clean, and true to life.
The best way to find natural light is to simply go outside. The light is the glowiest or dreamiest around 2 hours before sunset and 2 hours after sunrise.
I recommend that you look for open-shade to take photos in. This is when you are standing in shade, but when you look up your subject can still see the sky. This will give you even lighting (no bright sun spots), allow your kids to smile without squinting, and give you really natural skin tones. Open shade could be shade from a building, a tree, or even an entire mountain (I’ve done that before).
2. Face Your Shadow
If you are not able to find open-shade, as mentioned above. The next best trick is to have your kids stand so that they are facing their shadow. When they look down, they should be able to see their shadow in front of them.
This means that all the harsh sunlight will be hitting their backs and their front side will be in even lighting. You can see here in this cute photo of little baby Leo, how he is facing his shadow:
3. Shade the Lens & Get the Glow
Sometimes, when the light is really glowy, just before sunset and you are facing your shadow, the sunlight will hit your camera right in the lens. This will cause haze. You can see the rainbow sun flare in your photo and all the colors become more washed out and greyish.
If you simply use your hands to shade your camera lens, this will protect your lens from the sunlight hitting it. This not only makes your colors *Pop* and give your natural looking skin tones, but also it will give you a beautiful glow around your kids.
You can see the before & after of shading the lens in these photos below:
This is the glow I search for during my sessions!
4. Shoot Level with Your Kids
This is a great tip for mama’s with littles, just simply get low and and shoot eye level with your babies. You can even go as far as to flip your phone upside down to get an even lower angle. You can capture some super sweet photos, by just changing up your angle a bit and shooting eye level with your kiddos.
5. Simplify Your Background
Lastly, the best photos allow your eyes to focus immediately on your subject. It usually just takes a second, but take time to straighten up and clean your background. Move away any distractions that will take away from your kids and what they are doing. This could look like moving away toys, trash, water bottles, even closing doors in the background. Sometimes that may mean turning and finding a whole new background like a blank wall.
I hope these 5 tips to take better photos help transform your mommy photo skills! My challenge for you would be to pause before you pull out your camera and think to yourself:
Is this something I really want a photo of OR do I just want to enjoy this moment? Do I already have a photo like this?
If you do want to take a picture, then try and challenge yourself to set up a good picture and then only capture 3-5 photos. You just need one good one. Think quality over quantity.
Then give yourself permission to put your phone away and enjoy the moment.
If you do implement these tips, share your photo on Instagram and be sure to tag me @bethiegrondinphotography. I would love to see how you use these tips out in the wild!
Grab the Complementary BGP Checklist For *Actually* Printing Your Photos
Don’t forget to grab your complementary BGP Checklist on how to *actually* print and display your photos. These checklist walk you through the simplest way to get your photos off your screen and into your hands to be enjoyed. Print it off & check it off as you go! You can grab the checklists here:
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