PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN - III CATCH THEM IN ACTION

Friday, September 08, 2006

+ Go to beginning of the series
+ Continued at Photographing Children - IV, catch them with companions

When they are in activity, children usually involve them completely in it. Catch them when they are in the middle of a game, playing alone with a toy or when something interesting catches their eye. If you are in a Buddhist country, children in prayer make great subjects. The best thing about shooting children doing something is that their faces genuinely reflect the mood. Below is an image of a kid in the middle of prayer, taken at Rishikesh, India.



Exif: Canon EOS 350D, 100-400L at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/10sec ISO 800

You can see the kid's involvement in prayer. Below is an image of a couple of children laughing and enjoying a game at Hampi, India. Even in this picture, you can see that each of them is completely immersed in their game, oblivious to anything else.



This image was shot on Ilford pan B&W film, using Canon 75-300 kit lens.

While taking such pictures, getting close to them can disturb them and break them from whatever they have been doing. They may stop and look at you or get curious about the camera, which will spoil the moment. A telephoto lens comes handy in such cases, so that all the action can be captured while not getting too close to them.