Today I was greatly inspired by Garden Photography’s Facebook post on tips for mamas having babies during this quarantine. She gave some great insight about taking great fresh48 photos of their own babies, and my heart sank (both in joy that she’d share such simple but great knowledge and also in compassion for those mamas having babies right now. Many cannot have visitors and some can’t even have their husband by their side, and I just cannot imagine doing that alone. I just gave birth to my baby boy, Andrew Jeremiah, on January 20, 2020, before all of this chaos, and even though he’s my second, I still can’t imagine going through birth and recovery alone. Recovery is seriously no joke. God, I pray right now for every mom right now. Be her comfort and strength even more.) Shelby’s tips were spot on, so I thought I would expound upon these tips for those of you who want to take better indoor photos in your home; some lifestyle photos.
I love lifestyle photography. As a mom, capturing candid moments of my son, Ethan, and now baby Andrew, growing up has been so fulfilling — from their first moments in the hospital to Ethan walking and now playing, painting, and coloring.
I define lifestyle photography as unposed, unfiltered moments of your family, most often inside your home.
Since “in your home” is where you’ll be for a few more weeks, why not capture some candid moments.
Tips for Taking Better Indoor Photos
Lighting for Best Photos
To get the most natural, candid-looking photos, you need the most natural light.
Turn off artificial lights; that means kitchen, living room, or bedroom lights. Turn them off, and open the blinds and/or curtains.
Use that natural window light. That means the best time to take photos would be midday, depending on the weather and light outside.
The last couple of weeks have been cloudy, but not impossible for indoor photos. The last few days have been more sunny, so it makes it easier to capture photos, especially when you have quick little ones.
The easiest way to get a good photo is lighting your subject well. The light from the window should hit your subject’s face or side.
Prompts for Photographing Kids
Although lifestyle photography is attempting to capture the most natural, unposed moments, let’s be real, the kiddos need a little help, nudging, and bribing! Here’s some ideas for directing your kids on the forefront, so you can capture them in their element and as their most happy self!
- Let them play! Pick an activity for your kid to do such as blocks, paint, bake, color, etc. This can be anything they love to do that will get them to have fun, laugh, and play so you can be a fly on the wall.
- Sit them by a window. For one, you’ll get great light. Then you can capture is their curiosity for things outdoors as you ask them what they see. They’ll start pointing and hopefully smiling. Make a game if it. You may also capture their reflection in the window, which would be cool!
- Details. This is where you can GET CLOSE, which is one of my all time best tips for photographing better photos of your family. Capture their eyelashes, toes, hair, etc. Sleeping photos are always easy and precious, and may be the only time they’re still!
- Ask your child a question like “what’s your favorite animal?” Then have them act like it. Or ask them to act like their favorite character like Buzz Lightyear or Elsa. You could also ask them to make a silly face or simply say cheese to get a mix of candid and a great, big smile.
- Another great prompt for them to engage with you, mom, or with their grandparent, dad, or sibling, is ask what color the other person’s eyes are or to kiss them on the forehead or nose. You can also ask them to smell the other person; works best with snuggly babies
