Freedom of expression, playful activities and lots of fun in whatever they do is what sets the kids apart from the learned professionals like you and me. In the course of learning technicalities of the gear and rules of photography, we are often lost in the world of materialism where whatever we shoot / photograph is governed by the rules and restrictions. This ultimetely comes in the way of the freedom of expression as an artist and at times also acts as the block for new photography ideas. The zealousness, liveliness and vivacity of the kids on the other hand can revitalize your skills as the photographer and help you incline more towards the creative & artistic aspect of photography than just being a professional photographer. Here are 5 simple things a kid can teach you about taking great photographs.
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Take The Camera Wherever You Go
The first simple exercise to follow is to take your camera wherever you go. Just like kids don’t leave the home without carrying their favorite toy with them, you as the photographer should too be possessive about the gear. This one simple act will multiply your chances of photographing the surprises and make taking great photographs your secondary nature.
Hold your camera & be ready to shoot
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Know Your Gear In & Out
Kids are really superb at this. They not only love to play with things, they are keen observants of how things work. This quality adds to their creative instincts. Similarly knowing your camera & gear and playing around with the camera settings and mechanics gives you an edge over your skills as a photographer. This activity helps you in becoming well-versant with your equipment and thus make taking great photographs a snap — quicky dial on the settings and be ready to photograph the unexpected.
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Follow Your Heart
Have you ever handed over the camera to the kid? You will be surpirsed by the shots taken by them. Fresh perspective, varying angles of shooting and the daring to follow their heart 100% reflects in the photographs they take and perhaps is missing in what you shoot! Don’t go by the rules, just go by what your heart says. Know no bounds & limits and break the rules. Go a step ahead to make the difference in your photographying style.
Follow your heart
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Don’t Worry About The Outcome
When with camera, think about nothing more than taking the photograph. Let your creative juices flowing without worrying about the end-result. As is also acclaimed by the photographers that most of the good photographs happen accidently, so focus on taking the photograph more and leave behind the subconscious disturbances like what to shoot, how to shoot or which framing rules to apply.
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Enjoy What You Do
Enjoy what you do
One of the most peculiar thing about the kids is that they enjoy what they do. This enables them to go on experimenting at stretch which ultimately boosts the self-confidence and triggers new ideas for taking interesting photographs.
Lastly, observe the kids around you and adopt some of their behaviors and qualities to enliven the artist within you. Or just look back at your past and recall your fun-filled childhood memories. There might be some traits of your childhood that can compliment to your personality as a photographer. By the way, what is the one thing which you have learned from the kids about taking good photographs.
My 4 year old taught me something unexpected when it comes to doing portrait photography. Whenever he takes his little digital camera to shoot pictures of his siblings he always asks them to make funny faces first. The results are often hilarious.
So now when I photograph kids, I follow my son’s lead and ask them to make the funniest faces they can think of. You can never predict what kind results you’ll capture in the middle of their face pulling antics but the genuine smiles you can capture right after they explode into laughter is truly priceless.