Kids Photography Guide for Beginners

Kids photography has been getting popular over the last few years, and it has good growth for the foreseeable future.

The market is not as saturated as, say, wedding photography, and you don’t need a bunch of high-tech gear to start.

It’s all down to technique and practice, and that’s what this article is about: the techniques to get stunning images of kids, and the tricks to get them to cooperate while still having fun.

The Camera Settings and Techniques You Need to Know

Set the focus setting to Continuous Focus mode

Kids never stay still, they’re always on the move. As you want to let the kids do their thing and be as natural as possible, setting your focus mode to Continuous Focus is important to make sure you don’t end up with blurry images.

Shoot in continuous/burst mode to capture everything

Things can happen in a matter of seconds, and you don’t want to miss a cute moment because you press the shutter one second too soon/late.

Keep your camera setting at continuous/burst mode at all times, and keep your finger on the shutter button for a few seconds to capture their action.

Use a shallow depth of field for close-up shots

When you do closeup shots, you want to keep the focus on the kid, without the distracting background. Go for f/2.8 or lower to draw the focus to them.

Positioning your camera on the same level as their head will give a normal look at the size.

Shoot from a high angle to emphasise their small size, or shoot from the ground level to make them appear larger for a more creative look.

Focus on the eyes

Just like you do when taking a portrait, set the focus on the eyes. This is the part that has to be sharply focused, even when everything else is not.