Taking Better Photos of Your Kids At Home | Calgary Baby Photos

Photos are important. We may all know this, and that’s why our phones are filled with photos of our family (at least mine is). When you have kids, we want to hold on to as many of those amazing memories as we can! One of my favourite quotes is “the days are long but the years are short”. As moms we can get so busy that it can sometimes be hard to just stop and enjoy the moments with our kids. It goes by so fast, too fast.
A lot of people get yearly family portrait sessions done, but what about those day to day moments? I want to share some tips to taking simple and great photos of your kids at home.

Clearing the Space – You don’t have to clean the entire house, but make sure the area you plan to use is clutter free. Try and avoid having power chords plugged in on the walls, or unnecessary items on the floor or on tables. One of the main reasons I like to do this for photos is to keep the focus on the kids in the photo.

Here I forgot to move the mamaroo before taking the photo. Even though it’s ‘blurred’ in the background, I still find it distracting.

Outfits – I like to keep things very simple. Neutral colours without any big logos or patterns are my favourite. Even a simple white t-shirt and jeans can look very cute! I also like to avoid socks on kids. I think little toes are just the cutest and would hate to hide them!

Lighting – Avoid windows with direct sun unless you are using curtains to block some of the light. Using direct sun will create harsh shadows. Rather, find an area where there is ‘softer’ light where the sun isn’t hitting them directly. I like to side light kids in the photos which creates depth to their faces.

Catchlights (a gleam of reflected light in the eye of a person or animal in a photograph) – This in my opinion is very important. Catchlights add life to your subjects eyes. Without them they look dull, flat and dark. In order to achieve catchlights, make sure your kids are facing more towards the light/window than into the room – even just slightly. If the light is behind your subject and there is no reflector or second light source in front, you won’t be able to achieve catchlights.

These are just some quick tips to help you take simple and great photos of your little ones at home. Remember all of these amazing moments as the time goes by way too fast.