(Sorry about the post confusion this morning!  Love those little surprises.    Looks like we are set now.)

This Friday on The Nate Berkus Show you’ll see me work with a toddler and two babies to get a modern, family portrait that is indoors!  Super fun!  But today, let’s work through a NEW Photo-Recipe for getting the Toddler/Family Photo when you are outdoors!

If you LOVE taking pictures of Toddlers and have success left and right, raise your hand!  No hands?  Thank you for being honest readers.    I love toddlers, but wow, they are tough to photograph.  If you have toddlers of your own or plan to do a photo shoot with toddlers as your subject, come prepared with a serious Game Plan.  Toddlers may be small, but they are oh-so smart.  They know you want a great photo(s), and when those little busy bodies know what you want they LOVE to play hard to get.  It’s a game that takes you being pro-active and staying a step ahead.  And in the end, not only will your Toddler Photo Shoot be exhausting, it will also be super rewarding!

There are a few elements to this family shoot in New York’s Central Park.  Let’s start with the Game Plan of capturing the family all together in a way that doesn’t stress out the toddler and at the same time shows off the beautiful Setting of Central Park!

1. Start Wide to Develop Rapport

Start wide (zoomed out) giving your little one a sense of freedom…that is also controlled at the same time.  I love to have the mom and dad walk with their little one in the middle.  The little one gets to walk, but he stays in the control of mom and dad (because we know that otherwise he may take off running, right?!).  If they walk away from me, the toddler doesn’t see me and forgets about the camera.

I always tell my subjects to look at each other or at their little one so I can capture their profile.  Seeing their profile gives an overall feeling of connection between the family.  If they look straight ahead, and all we see is the back of their hands, we lose the feeling of intimacy in the shot.  Even the slightest turn of their heads toward the middle make the story that much more intimate.

There are so many GREAT stories in a simple “walking away” shot.  There is the size comparison; the little guy seems that much smaller in between mom and dad.  There is the beautiful, quiet sense of timelessness.  Even the other bystanders or fellow park visitors add to the story.  And because we are wide (zoomed out), we are capturing the arch of the trees, the golden leaves overhead, etc.

2. Accentuate the Intimacy with a Simple Gesture

As you trail behind the family, ask dad to lean over and give mom a kiss.  Photo Coach them to make it a small kiss, maybe their lips don’t even touch but are close enough to kiss at any moment.  These clear instructions help give that much more definition to their kiss.

All of a sudden the two parents become a physical covering over their little one, and the family’s connection feels that much warmer.

3.  Stay Engaged with Each Other

Sticking with this simple Game Plan, ask the family to turn and slowly walk back toward you.  If they look at you and your camera, encourage them to look at their little one.  Or have one parent look at the other while the second parent looks down at their little one.  If they look at the camera, the ease of the moment is gone.  All of a sudden the image is no longer fluid with their direct eye contact.  Encourage them to stay engaged with each other.

4. Invite His Smile!

By now, your little one may be up for engaging with the camera. He spent the last 5-10 minutes connecting with mom and dad by holding their hands and walking AWAY from you.  Now mom and dad are walking towards you, but it doesn’t seem as forced as it did when the photo shoot first started.  If you are feeling this kind of ease in your toddler, go ahead and start to move in.  Start with the classic shot of him looking at the camera and centered in the middle of the frame.

Photo Coach the parents to look at their little one or at each other, and then work on getting the little one to look right at you.  If he is the only one looking at you, it makes his sweet smile stand out that much more.

5. Get a Little Closer!

You’ll know right away if your toddler is comfortable with you moving in for a tighter shot.  Make it all about him and how small he is by keeping the framing tight and around his height.

We started with number 1 being wide, open and non-demanding of the toddler’s attention.  By now we’ve hopefully built a sense of safety and familiarity with this little guy so that we can get closer shots.

This Photo-Recipe is all one Game Plan.  The focus was to help our toddler feel safe, connected to mom and dad, and then free to engage with the camera.  The best part is that we got a few different “family portraits”.  And the Setting was also a character in the photos.  When your subjects take you to a specific setting for their family shoot, you want to make sure you include the Setting as an actual character.  Not all of the photos have to be like that, but by doing a handful you can move on to the NEXT Game Plan!

Next week, we’ll revisit this same family, back in Central Park, and you’ll get to see me capture shots that accentuate this little guy’s age and humor.  Stay tuned!

How do I set my camera up for these types of shots?  Great question!  Do you have a Point-and-Shoot or DSLR?

Setting Up Your Point-and-Shoot:

If you like the buttery, blurred backgrounds like the photos in this blog post, set your shooting mode to P for Portrait or A for Aperture-Priority.  These two modes will automatically give you a lower f-stop which creates the buttery, blurred background.

Setting Up Your DSLR:

You could set your DSLR to Aperture Priority, dial down to the lowest f-stop your lens can give, and let the camera decide your Shutter Speed for you.  Or you could go to Manual (which isn’t as scary as they make it sound) and try my DSLR settings below;

ISO 200–I keep my ISO as low as possible for the best color saturation in the overall image.  With New York’s Central Park being in it’s full Fall glory, I wanted the color to be as rich as can be.

Aperture was f/2.8. I’m using a low f-stop because I love the buttery, blurred background.  Even though the parents and toddler weren’t perfectly lined up, I was standing far enough away so that they’d all be in focus.  This is the basic principle of Depth of Field.  If you know you love buttery, blurred backgrounds but need help understanding them, check out our Beyond the Green Box DVD!

Shutter Speed was 1/400th of a second or some camera just say 400.  When you want to capture motion without the blur, you need your shutter to move at a decent pace.  The slower the shutter moves, the more blurred motion you get in your image.  It was also a sunny Fall day which meant I needed the shutter speed to be somewhat fast because the slower it opened and closed, the more light would come in.  Beyond the Green Box is a great tool if you struggle with understanding Shutter Speed and hate fractions (like I do! ).

Feel free to post any questions about today’s Photo-Recipe!  And be sure to set your DVRs for THIS Friday, December 3rd on the Nate Berkus Show!  And if you have a second, send up a prayer for Nate who went to the hospital yesterday for Appendicitis and unexpected surgery.  This guy works so hard and gives SO MUCH.  Wishing him a speedy recovery and peace.

xoxo,

m

p.s.  The SOAR! Scholarship is now open!  Got a photography dream but no camera gear, tools, or mentoring to support it?  Get your application turned in by Monday, December 20th, and your dream may be one of the three that are picked to SOAR!

CLICK HERE for all the juicy details!

p.s.s.  FREE SHIPPING on our award winning DVDs for the Holiday Season!  Woo-hoo! (love this time of year!)