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You might have heard that stooping to one’s level is never advisable.
In conflicts, sure. But in photography, doing exactly that may just
make all the difference between a normal photo and a good one.

Take for example when taking a picture of a toddler. I noticed that
most of the members of Litratong Pinoy are parents. In fact, most of
the time our subject are our kids!

So how do you take interesting photos that capture the nature of kids?
How do you avoid making your picture look ordinary? I actually have 3
cardinal rules that I try to follow when taking photos, especially of
children.

Rule #1: Stoop to their level

No, don’t scream and throw tantrums when they won’t pose for you. Get
down on your knees, elbows, or tummy if need be, and then shoot away.
You may be pleasantly surprised that a perspective at this level can
turn out a good photo.

Take a look at photo #3. I initially took this one:

And then I realized it was really uninteresting, it was too long a
shot (meaning it was too zoomed out), and the background (scaffolding)
didn’t really work into the picture.

Rule #2: Move it!

Or rather, let them move. If the child is camera-shy, the best way to
capture fun (and ‘innocent’) moments would be to let them do their
thing. Make sure you’re prepared and then shoot away (sample
photo #2). Saka na mag-delete ng pictures, pag na-upload na!
You wouldn’t want to miss anything, so kuha lang ng kuha. Thank
goodness for digital cameras, huh?

Also, don’t be afraid to run after them. That’s the fun part, isn’t it?

Rule #3: Messy and all

Details, details, details. The hair in the face, the ice cream on the
nose, the icky soil and dirt on the hands. Minsan lang tayo maging
bata, sabi nga. Zoom in, extreme close up (see sample photo
#1). And this way too, you’ll get good depth of field (i.e.,blurred background; make sure lang that the background is far enough).