I had a great experience working with my friend John the photographer. As I have indicated in my previous article, John Mueller has come and taken pictures of my children. He didn’t only take pictures of my newborn son but also of my three year old daughter. I learned a lot of things from John, about taking pictures of children. In my last article I shared the things I have learned about taking pictures of infants. In this article I want to share some things about taking pictures of toddlers.
6 video modules - over 30 videos containing step-by-step instructions for Windows or Mac programs like Lightroom, ACDSee, Picasa and Photos.
All my e-Books for free - all my products are included.
Completely self-paced. Learn at your own pace and take as long as you want until you learn how to organize your photos. More info
Having children of my own has forced me to learn some simple steps for taking great pictures of children. At first it was hard, because I assumed that I just point my camera at my kids and shoot awesome photos. However, in order to take great photos of children, a few more things are involved.
Take good care of your subject if you want great pictures.
Just like I have written before, your subject is the most important part of the pictures (read How to take great pictures of infants). So take care of your subject. First off, make sure your subject is well rested. Usually, the best time for taking pictures of children is after their afternoon nap. If a child is well rested, then he or she can show you the great energy they have.
A happy child is the best subject for a picture.
Secondly, get your subject interested in something you do. Toddlers have great energy so you must get them interested in something in order to take pictures of them. Usually something like just sit down and be quiet doesn’t work very well. On the other hand speaking with funny voices makes toddlers come alive. John was great ! He started speaking is some Disney character’s voices and my daughter just loved it! A happy child is the best subject for a picture.
Thirdly, pay attention to the clock. Children do not stay interested in one thing for too long (TV is an exception :) ), and so you have to try to set a time limit in taking pictures of a child. Ask the parents because they’ll be able to tell you right away how much time is too long.
Use simple props that your subject can hold in their hands.
Children love to look and handle new things. Have some simple toys like trucks for boys and dolls or flowers for girls. Simply ask them to look at them and hold them in their hands. A bulky and colorful necklace works great for girls. Same with some large colorful hats. Simple things are the best props for children photography.
Pay attention to your light and background
I have already written about how important your light and background is for photographing children, so I will not repeat myself here (read How to take great pictures of infants).
Do you need a good photographer who is easy to work with?
Just a good word for John now…if you need a photographer for your wedding or family, you will love working with John. Just checkout his site (www.johnbmueller.com).
Essentials for organizing your digital photos
Here are the essential products and services I have come to rely on for many years to keep my media collection organized and safe. Even though these are affiliate links, I wholeheartedly recommend them. 
Excellent Lightroom and Picasa alternative. If you need a cheaper and simpler photo manager then ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac (save 20% until Feb 15) or ACDSee Pro for Windows (save $20 until Feb 15) is my preferred solution for organizing all my media. It has a very fast browser, great image editing and it's simple to use.
If you do a lot of image editing like I do, I recommend using Adobe Lightroom Classic CC via the annual Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. Lightroom has best photo editing capabilities even though it comes with a steeper learning curve. If you do image editing, Adobe Lightroom is my favorite.
I recommend Backblaze Cloud Backup for affordable & reliable unlimited cloud backup. I have been using Backblaze for backing up all pictures & videos for more than 5 years now. All my invaluable digital memories are safe and secure. This is the best solution especially if you have a large quantity of media files.
Use a reliable & affordable external hard drive for backing up everything on your computer. It is absolutely essential for keeping all your memories backed up and safe.
Start organizing now using detailed, step-by-step instructions and videos:
Personal Coaching (closed) Independent Course Private Lessons
Reference book Basics book Picasa book
YOURS FREE! 10 crucial steps most people miss when organizing their digital photos
Most people want to just organize their digital pictures and ignore these crucial steps right at the beginning...when they are shooting and transferring their digital pictures. Then they wonder why they can't organize their digital photos! Avoid most people's mistakes and start on the right track!
