How to Get Great Pictures of the Kids

With the abundance of digital cameras out there these days, it’s easier than ever to capture all of your kiddo’s special moments – or at least it should be.  Sadly, no matter how great your camera is, it doesn’t change the fact that taking pictures of kids (especially young kids) is hard.  They never want to sit still, don’t like to smile on demand, and you can forget about asking them to “act natural”.  But don’t worry, all hope is not lost as today I’m sharing two great tools every parent should have in their photography arsenal.

First up is a magical little thing called a Photoshop action.  I know you may be thinking, “uh oh, this is a Photoshop post – I’m a parent who wants cute shots of my kids, not a professional photag.”  I get that, I do, but I really believe that every parent should own Photoshop Elements.  It’s a very inexpensive investment and so worth it when the end result is frame-quality shots of your favorite family moments.

Ok, so now that you have Photoshop Elements, on to what are known as “actions”.  Basically, these are mini-programs you can buy for Elements (or Photoshop if you want to get really fancy) that give your photos professional level polish with just one click.  They’re perfect for people like me who want to spiff up their photos but don’t really have the first idea how to do it.

Above is a sample before and after shot using Photoshop Elements Actions from MPMK’s new sponsor paint the moon.  It’s just a glimpse of the many and varied actions available.  Head over and check them out – I guarantee you’ll want them all!

Even the best Photoshop action in the world won’t help much if your kid hates the camera.  Enter Kelly from be a fun mum.  She’s put together a really useful 5 part series on how to photograph kids.  It’s full of lots of inspired tips and tricks.  My favorite is her suggestion to ask young children if they can see a dinosaur/fairy in the lens.  This gets them gazing straight into the camera and produces those “wide-eyed-looking-straight-into-their-sweet-little-souls” photographs.

Now that we’ve covered taking the pictures and re-touching them, you should be all set.  So get those cameras out and snap away! (Oh, and I keep meaning to add a photography section to MPMK’s Favorite Things Shop but I still haven’t gotten it done.  So, in case you’re wondering, you can find the camera I use here and my favorite lens for getting those lovely blurred background shots here.  Enjoy.)

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