Want Better Photos of Your Kids? Avoid These 8 Common Mistakes

As a photographer and a mom, I know it’s important to document your kids’ lives. The good news? You don’t need expensive equipment or professional training to capture beautiful images of your kids. You can elevate your photos with a few easy tweaks. These are the mistakes I see parents make the most when taking pictures, and some expert advice for what to do instead to snap that perfect pic. 

Mistake: Not getting in the picture with the kids

Here is my personal plea to all the tired, frazzled parents in the world: Just get in the picture. Don’t wait until you lose weight, don’t worry if you’re not wearing makeup. We want to see you, roots and wrinkles and all.

For too many years, looking through my photos you would’ve thought my children were orphans. I learned to love the self-timer, or for a quick no-fuss option, ask a stranger to take a group picture for me. If it’s my Nikon, I find someone else with a “big” camera to hand it to. For my phone, I find someone to swap — I take their picture, they take mine. Hint: People younger than 25 take great pictures! If handing your phone to a stranger makes you nervous, find someone who can’t outrun you just in case.

Mistake: Making your kids smile at the camera

My kids have perfected the art of the fake smile: cheeks bunched up, lips stretched wide. No genuine twinkle in their eyes, though! Instead of forced smiles, try catching your children as they are, says veteran Seattle photojournalist and family photographer Meryl Schenker. Capture their unique body language: how they sit, their gestures, how they look when they are lost in thought.

“Capture their activities as they do them,” says Schenker. “If you want to see their faces, and they don’t want to smile, it’s okay! If you want a smile, try playing a song they like to dance to or making them smile by saying something they might respond to instead of asking for a smile.”

Mistake: Standing with your backs to the sun

It doesn’t matter how expensive your camera is if you don’t pay attention to the light.

No one likes squinting into the sun, but if the background’s super bright, your faces are going to be underexposed. One of photographer Mike Hipple’s (owner of Mike Hipple Photography in Seattle) pet peeves is receiving Christmas cards where he can’t see his friends’ faces because the photo is shot against the sun. Expose your subjects’ faces, or better yet, move into an open shady area.

“Do not backlight your subjects,” says Hipple. “If you’re going to do that, make sure you put your finger on the subject so you expose what you want to see.”

Mistake: Leaving all the pictures in a jumble on your phone

Do not let photos die in the black hole of your camera roll. Make a point of editing down your take whenever you have a minute, like when you’re waiting in the pickup line. Instead of 10 pictures of the same situation, just save the best frame.

And in the era where most people are digitizing old family albums, I’m going to be the analog outlier. Make a point of getting prints of your favorite shots. It doesn’t need to be wall-sized canvases, but maybe a rotating gallery on top of your piano. A 4×6 print will cost pennies at any drugstore. You’re not looking for museum quality, just fun moments to share, screen-free.

Mistake: Not knowing your settings and gear

The best camera is the one you have with you. For most people, that’s going to be your phone and that’s totally fine. Your phone camera is extremely powerful, and there are professional photographers who exclusively use phones. Learn all the functions. You don’t want to be fumbling when you can’t find portrait mode after the latest update. (Why does Apple do that??)

Phone tips from a pro: You can focus on the subject by pressing the square that appears when you touch the screen, Schenker says. You can adjust the lightness/darkness with a slider that also appears.

Is your phone good enough, or do you need a “fancy” camera? I’m a purist who insists on carrying all my gear on vacation with me. I like setting my exposure manually. I like controlling my depth of field. I love the option of different lenses.

The worst thing to do, however, is buy a fancy camera and not know what to do with it. I’ve been shooting Nikon for 20-plus years, but the new mirrorless Nikon Z5II threw me for a loop. Thank goodness for the patient Nikon rep who walked me through the settings, and now I wonder why I didn’t upgrade sooner. The big advantage of mirrorless is you see the picture before you take it. “What you see is what you get,” says Nikon product manager Alfredo Aybar. “If you take a bad picture, that’s on you.”

Mistake: Ignoring your framing

You’re not going to be able to get close if you’re shooting your kids’ soccer game. But if you’re taking portraits, the very best zoom is your own two feet.

“Don’t be afraid to get closer,” Hipple says. “If you are afraid, go ahead and use those two fingers and scroll-in a little, but not too much because it ruins the photo. The best case scenario is to walk up close to your subject.”

When you’re framing your picture, try to get a full-body shot or crop at the waist. Definitely don’t cut someone off at the ankles or knees. “It really throws off the proportions,” Hipple says.

Mistake: Shooting everything at eye level

Try different angles. Get up high, or get down low.

Fashion and beauty photographer Joyce Charat lays on the streets of New York City and Los Angeles for photo shoots — and has to throw away all her clothes afterward. “Experiment with different perspectives,” says Charat, who led a Nikon workshop in Seattle. “Just get out there and shoot.”

Mistake: Not giving yourself grace

One huge plus of having kids is having your own adorable in-house models. (Charat had to practice on her cats!) Learning photography is part exercising your eye, part learning the technical craft. Some people do well looking up YouTube tutorials, but I learn best in person.

If you have questions about how something works on your camera, come and ask, says Michael Sladek, social media manager for Kenmore Camera.

“The best way to get better at something is to practice it,” he adds. “If you want to get better at photography, take your camera out and take photos. Be patient with yourself.”