Let children, above all, be themselves

 

BritPhotShot 

I was lucky enough to shoot a client event in Los Angeles last month. After two days stuck in a hotel conference room, I was glad to land in sunny, windswept Malibu where I caught up with an old school friend who is busily making his fortune in LA.

He has a wonderful 7-year-old daughter and she’s is a real natural in front of the camera. The trick in this case was just to let her do her thing and simply be there to capture it. So the lesson today is simply this; when shooting children let them be themselves. Don’t try to control them. Don’t try to pose them too much. Just let them do their thing and let the magic happen.

Clearly you also have to know the right settings, which, in this case, were all about shutter speed; keep that high, the ISO low and work the aperture setting accordingly. With this relatively new 50mm 1.4 lens from Nikon I’m finding I can be ready for almost anything!

Technical details from Benjamin Arthur Photography; Nikon D700. AF-S Nikkor 50mm (1.4) @ f/2.8, ISO 200 @ 1/3200s