Getting Great Photos At Your Childs Next Birthday Party
For me.. documenting the events in my children’s lives with photos are so important! The photos are all you have left after that event is over!! So make sure to bring that camera out. The one big event you must document even over all the holidays is their birthday! They only get one day a year all to themselves!! If anything it will show how big them have grown and how much they have changed this past year. Whether it is a big birthday party or just a small gathering with family and just a cake.. make sure to document it. Here are a few things to getting those great birthday photos.
Lighting is always, always the number one key!! If you don’t have great light it is so hard to get those great photos. You end up having to have your flash on to fill the light. The key to making your camera work its fastest and capture clear, non blurry photos is to have lots of light. I truly plan my party around the great lighting times which is first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. In my home I have great light in my family room, kitchen and dining room in the morning. So I tend to schedule my children’s parties inside first thing in the morning. Or if it is an outdoor party and your patio is shaded in afternoon, then have the party scheduled for the afternoon. You can set up the cake and presents etc on a table under the patio where you have great shade. Shade is key when you have full sun outside unless you learn to shoot in manual mode on your camera. Details coming soon.
While planning the details try to plan ahead where your child will sit to open gifts or sit to blow out the candles on her cake. Face them out toward the light. If it is at a big kitchen table with windows face the child toward the window as long as there is no direct light on them. If under the patio in the shade have them facing out toward the yard. This will help to have bring photos and get that beautiful catchlight in their eyes. Make sure there isn’t clutter behind where they will be sitting also. Try to make for clean areas so there is nothing distracting in the photos.
Take photos of all the details ahead of time and use the continuous shooting mode. In most cameras there is the option to tell your camera to take one shot at a time or take a series of shots, called continuous shooting mode. The little details are so important because it will help you bring back the memories and overall feelings of the day! More than likely you will have your child’s favorite foods and snacks that you think you will remember in 5 years but trust me you do forget. Take these photos before the party and all the guests arrive. Even take a few pictures of the birthday child in their dress ahead of time and with the cake too. You will be one step ahead and feel less stressed.
If you know you are too busy during the party to photograph everything ask a family member or close friend to do it. Or have a photo buddy! You can have them take the photos for you or take them along with you too in case you miss a shot. Then you can offer to help them at their next party. Having someone else take photos will also allow you to actually be in some of the photos.
Make a list of photo shots you want to get and take tons of photos. With digital now you can take hundreds of photos and just delete the bad ones. You are much more likely to get good photos if you take more photos. Sometimes you will only get one great cake shot but if you only took two you probably wouldn’t have that great shot of them blowing their candles out! Try to take photos at different angels too. Think about getting low, shooting from above, try different perspectives or maybe you can have your photo buddy take those fun angel shots.
You worked so hard to plan and prepare every detail of the party. Make sure to capture it. Don’t forget to take pictures of the decorations, balloons, and presents before the party begins. Step back, take photos of the whole room, then get in close and fill the frame. Don’t forget to photograph after the party too. All the leftover wrapping paper on the floor, the destroyed cake or the birthday child napping after the big day.
Just try to remember this day is all about your child. Do everything you can to set yourself up for success ahead of time.. Paying attention to the details while planning will make your life so much more stressful in the end on the day of the party. Then hopefully you can enjoy the special day with your child and have tons of great photos to remember it by. If you follow my photography tips you will learn a little bit about photography with each post. Make sure you read my last post about Tips To Documenting The New School Year! I give a few great tips in this post that you can use when photographing your birthday party too.
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This post is sponsored by:
The Brett Saks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, hopes to make our Arizona communities safer for bicyclists by teaching adults and children about road safety and mutual respect between drivers and cyclists in fun and engaging ways. We are “Shifting Gears to Saves Lives,” as more than 600 cyclists are lost each year to car-bike accidents. Learn more at gearupaz.org.
Looking forward to using this advice for my kids first themed birthday party this year – ninja turtles here we come!