5 Tips to Photograph Kids on Your Phone

Start archiving your child's memories and improve how you photograph your kids with these five expert tips.

Tip #1 Have patience

Children have different personalities, and therefore, different comfort levels. Be patient with them. Recognize their limits and adjust accordingly.

Capturing your child's memories is supposed to be a positive experience. After all, they will mean a lot to you both.

Make creating these memories a positive experience.

Tip #2 Get down to their level

One of the most simple tips for photographing children involves composition—and you've probably heard it before. Adjusting your camera to "get low" prevents you from towering over your subject. Doing so makes a huge difference immediately. Your photos will be more flattering from this perspective.

Kids are short, so getting down to their level likely means you'll be on your knees or sitting. While you are getting comfortable with being closer to the ground, use this opportunity to bond with your subject. Not only is this an excellent opportunity to capture a more flattering perspective, but it's also a great time to boost your child's confidence. 

Tip #3 Let loose

Kids wear their silly antics like a badge of honor. As it turns out, children love when their parents get silly with them. So, get silly. Let your subject reward you with a genuine reaction by being silly with them. The twinkle in their eye or belly-laugh is worth every second of silliness. Nothing showcases the personality of a kid more than when they're encouraged to be a kid.

Tip #4 Freeze!

Do you struggle to capture your child's in-the-moment? Are they a bit too speedy for your shutter? Before you even have a chance to grab your camera, they've moved. A picture-perfect moment vanishes in the blink-of-an-eye.

Freeze the moment by playing the red light, green light game. You can also freeze fun movement by playing the freeze game. These beloved classics are the perfect assistant to make your subject pause.

The traditional freeze game involves music. When the music stops, everyone freezes, at which point, you would begin shooting. Balancing photography and DJ may be more challenging than you think. Be sure to grab an assistant to help you manage the music.

Tip #5 Burst Mode

Photographing moving subjects is difficult. Never miss another moment by using Burst Mode on your iPhone.

Burst Mode is a functionality built-into the iPhone camera, where your camera captures a series of photos in rapid succession. Burst is a great way to shoot an action scene where your subject is less likely to cooperate.

To activate burst mode, open the camera app. Hold down the shutter button to begin shooting. When you have completed taking pictures, release the shutter button. Your camera will continue taking pictures until you release the button.

Burst is perfect to use in motion, waiting for a reaction, or playing the freeze game.