The New York Institute of Photography is one of the world’s largest photography schools and because we are, we often publish fun and useful photography tips on our photography blog. Please enjoy!
If you’re planning a photo shoot in which your subjects will be children, you might want to consider adjusting the gear you’d normally work with otherwise. If you plan to specialize in child photography, it’s important to explore and weigh your equipment options before you start compiling a camera bag full of impractical additions.
Chiefly, you want to reduce your compositional technique to an almost robotic, routine operation as often as possible when it comes to working with babies and kids. Once your logistical routine is in place, you’ll be able to establish a relationship with the young subject, something crucial in this particular niche. Since children have much shorter attention spans and patience, you will not have the privilege of focusing on your gear and fine tuning operational adjustments at the time of the shoot- you’ll need to be talking to, communicating with and entertaining the children as much as possible instead.
A digital camera is probably the best choice for this field of work. You might also want to consider tethering it with a wireless communication setup so that it links directly to a computer monitor, allowing you to check out the photos on a larger screen as you’re snapping them.
If your clients are in the teen years, many will ask for your help with retouching blemishes they might have on the day of the shoot. If senior portraits or prom pictures are going to be a part of your workflow, you should probably familiarize yourself with an image-editing software as well in anticipation of this.
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