Children are the most photographed people on earth and the hardest to photograph well. They move, they hide and they pull faces the moment a camera appears. The good news is that you do not need them to cooperate.
This is how the two pictures sit together on one spread.
Try it this month
Forget the perfect portrait. Aim for pictures that show what this age was really like.
The photos you will treasure most are rarely the posed ones. They are the ones where the child forgot you were there.
- Keep one photo per day at most
- Star photos as you take them
- Back up before deleting anything
When to stop
Some readers keep a short list of rules on a sticky note beside the computer. Ours says: faces first, then places, then anything that made us laugh. It is not scientific, but it stops the session turning into an evening of second-guessing.
Do not forget the in-between moments: the car park before the party, the coats piled on a chair, the walk home in the dark. They are the parts of a day that nobody photographs on purpose and everybody recognises straight away.
I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.
Tom Okafor, Paperleaf
Why it works
If two photos are nearly the same, keep the one where someone is doing something. A raised hand, a turned head or a half-finished sentence gives a picture life that a perfectly still pose rarely has, even when the still one is technically better.
Any tips for doing this with twins? I end up with two of everything.
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
I never thought about the light from the window. Moved the high chair and the difference is huge.