About a year ago we talked about a mother who took amazing photos of her children, often sharing space with animals. As he explained, during the day I photographed them and at night, quietly before the computer, I was retouching them until I got images that force you to stop to look. Almost magical images.
The success of his photos was such that in a short time he became known throughout the world. Millions of people saw their photos and enjoyed their ability to enter into beautiful worlds. Many felt even homesick, many contacted her to thank her, to explain that they had even moved, because he treats them in a way that reminds you of past times, as if we were those children reliving our childhoods.
And the most special thing is that they are not photos of their children posing for the camera, smiling, like those we do when we say to our children "look at the camera, smile!". So so that we can get a little closer to her way of taking the photos and achieve more natural results, she, Elena Shumilova, offers his tricks, his five great tips to make better photos of your children.
1. Take pictures every day
It is often the case that we take the photos at specific times, in celebrations, on important days. On other occasions, we do them when we see that the moment is perfect: "they are in the picture," we think. They are outside playing and laughing, the light is perfect and you see that it is time to take a picture. You approach the camera, they see it and suddenly they get stiff, they start to pose, to smile and then the moment has already been lost. That is not the picture you wanted to take.
In order not to happen, it is important to take pictures often, if possible, every day. Than the camera is a common element more. Do not see it as an incitement to smile, pose or make faces. If they get used to your presence and the camera at the end they continue with their lives and their games without paying attention to it, and that is when you can take the best photos, those that you will always remember because, in addition, they are the ones that capture moments of their childhood, things what they do, games ... are the photos that become memories.
2. Wear clothes with neutral colors
Children often wear colorful clothes, which attracts a lot of attention, which focuses the viewer's attention on the image by diverting it from what is important, from what actually happens. The clothes should not be the protagonist, but one more thing that allows us to look at the rest of the photo. For it, the ideal is to use neutral colors.
When she started taking pictures every day, she started replacing children's clothes, avoiding the typical T-shirts with characters in patterned drawings. Now they wear smoother clothes and so it is clear that at any time you can take photos that can finally look good.
In our case, as we are not going to dedicate ourselves professionally, we can always alternate days of "normal" clothes with days of "photoable" clothes, because I imagine that we do not have enough time to walk taking photos at all times (or probably want to change everything the costumes of our children).
3. Adapt to the age of each child
Many people often ask him how he does it so that his baby is calm when taking the photos. The answer is that since he is his mother and he is with him 24 hours a day, he knows when he cries and when he does not, and adapts to his rhythms to choose the best moments. Let's say the general advice is: do not take the photos when you do well, but when they do well. If you are nervous, running a lot, nothing still, or if you are a baby and restless, leave the camera. Take it out again when you are in a moment of tranquility, talking or playing more calmly. So if we talk about babies, it is best to follow the instinct and take the photos when we know that it will be the best time.
If we talk about children from 2 to 4 years old, there is not much problem, because they are ages in which their behavior has little to do with what happens around. They care little that you are looking at them, that you point them with the camera and in general what others are doing. They are free, probably it's the moment of their lives when they feel freer, because they do what they want when they want. That's why they are the children that best fit in the photographs. They don't care about you and you don't have to worry too much about them being natural, because they already are.
From 5 years the thing starts to get a little complicated. They begin to be aware of your presence, of the camera and begin to pose, or to smile, or to modify their game by the fact that you are watching. The key here is be very patient. Let them play while you "disappear" from their scene, while they forget that you are there with the camera. The best photos are usually the last ones he makes, since they are the ones that correspond to the moments when they no longer think that she is there.
4. If you want to add animals, study their movements and behavior
In the same way that not all children behave the same before a camera, animals, pets, do not do the same. This means that there is no magic formula that works with all animals. She usually spends hours looking at her animals, imagining which angles are better, seeing how they move, etc. For a while he tried to add food, but it was not a good idea, because there is no way to take a good picture while chewing or swallowing, so choose to let children and animals interact in the most natural way possible and she is simply there, as a spectator, trying to capture the most beautiful moment that, indirectly, can offer.
5. Don't give up
This is the most famous photo of all that he has taken. More than 10 million people have visited it in its original site and, that day, it hardly takes the camera:
As he explains, before that photo his confidence was on the floor. He had 14 attempts to get a picture with his son and his dog, and does not refer to 14 photos, but to 14 days, 14 complete sessions without achieving the photo you wanted to achieve. He began to think that it was not worth it, that he was too clumsy to take a good picture. Then he thought that it was the same thing for the dog, that it was not suitable for taking pictures, or that his son was not photogenic either. I was so desperate that day I didn't want to take the camera again.
But something told him he had to take it and that day he got that snapshot that has now made his dog and son famous. That day the dog was great, and thanks to all the previous days he realized that it is a difficult dog to photograph with whom the angles can spoil a photo. In other words, the previous 14 sessions, which discouraged him so much, actually served him to learn how to take pictures of both the dog and the child.
In addition, it is important not to feel frustrated because if so, you begin to feel that the world owes you a good picture, the world, or your children. Y they don't owe you anything, nor are they guilty that you fail to capture a perfect image. They are just children playing, making their lives, and you a fancy spectator. Take the pressure off and just do it, try it, enjoy. If you get a great image, perfect. If not, at least you will have been able to see them play free, as they are, and many of those photos will serve as memories for the future. A magnificent memory.
