Three Tips for Taking Photos of Your Children With Your Phone

I love looking through old photo albums that my parents put together of my brother’s and my childhood. All of the photos printed out, film copies in the front, and the bulky albums all lined up on a shelf. I do have one album of printed photos of my son in our house right now, and everyone who sees it is mystified. Because in all honesty, no one really does that anymore.

Now we have smart phones. Gone are the days of carrying around a camera in addition to your other accessories. No more taking photos in to get printed and waiting days for them to be developed. While there are still film photographers out there, the majority of non-photographers rely on their phones for their daily photos.

And despite our best efforts, it’s easy for all of our phone photos of our kids to look like slightly different variations of the same photo. So in order to change that up, get some variety, and capture a different perspective, here are three ways to take great photos of your kids with your phone:

1.Get on their level! Look what happens when I take the same photo from my height versus when I get down on Henry’s level. The whole photo changes. Not only is it a different angle, but it’s a way of seeing the world through your child’s eyes.

2. Wipe off the camera lens before taking photos! This one is HUGE! Ever wonder why someone with a new iPhone X or Samsung Galaxy has blurry photos up on Facebook or Instagram? It’s because they (or their children) have been touching the camera lens on accident and haven’t wiped it off lately. It happens to all of us. I touch my phone’s camera lens when I grab my phone out of my purse, and Henry touches it regularly when he’s attempting to Facetime on his own. It’s something so small but makes such a big difference. Check out the difference in these photos! The one on the left is with my camera after the lens has been touched with Henry’s and my fingers. The one on the right is after I wiped it off with my shirt. Wow!

3. Take advantage of good lighting! One day I’ll make a post of just my favorite lighting tips, but for now I’ll leave you with my top tip. Windows! Always try to take photos so the windows are behind you and the light is shining on your child. When you take a photo with the light behind your child, nine times out of ten your child will turn out being poorly lit because the light is too strong outside and phones have a difficult time compensating for that.

There you have it! If you implement those three tips, you’ll start to see big changes in your phone photos. As technology and the concept of photo albums change, it’s the small details that will make a big difference in preserving these memories for a lifetime.