Mommy Baby Pictures- Tips for Self Portraits

I’ve been wanting some mommy baby pictures.  I mean wanting them bad!  Since I take a lot of pictures I thought, Oh, I’ll just set up the tripod and take a few…. yeah right.  Easier said than done.  I’ve used my tripod with the timer before and had great results.  This picture of our family for Christmas was taken using a tripod and a timer. 

 

 

So, what was different this time???  A few things.  First off, Khloe was 2 months old in the picture above.  She moved around WAY less than the squirmy little 10 month old that she is now.  Second, Chris was in the picture above. 

When you take pictures with a timer, the camera focuses when you push down the shutter button.  When I was setting up the tripod to take our Christmas pictures, I focused on Chris, pushed the button and ran in front of the camera.  The result- in focus pictures.  When I was taking pictures of just Khloe and I, it was nearly impossible to get us in focus.  I could focus on Khloe when setting up the tripod, but she’s so close to the ground that it wouldn’t focus on me when I got into the picture.  And there was no way for me to focus if I wanted pictures of us standing up. 

I tried and tried and tried to get a decent picture of us.  I actually tried for 2 days in a row.  The first day, I got 1 decent picture.  The second day, one more decent one with the tripod, still nothing I loved.  I was getting so frustrated which made Khloe frustrated.  I was to the point of tears.  Literally.  Finally, Chris came home.  He took over the camera for a few minutes and got some decent shots.  I still don’t consider these “amazing” and I’ll probably bribe him into taking more when I go to take her 1 year pictures.  But they kept me from tears J

 

 

Through all of my despair (I’m may be a bit of a drama queen) I did manage to take a few things away from my impromptu mommy baby photo shoot. 

1.       Use a remote and set the camera on a 2 second delay.  When using a remote, the camera focuses before each picture.  So, since I would have been in front of the camera, it would have focused on me.  By setting the camera on a 2 second delay it gives you 2 seconds to hide the remote before the picture is taken.  Why didn’t I do this?  My remote batteries were dead.  L

2.       If you don’t have a remote and have to use the timer, get someone to stand in for you while you focus the camera.  Had Chris been home, I would have had him stand with Khloe and I would have focused on him.  Then I could have ran over and taken his place.  Luckily when he got home last night, he was willing to take the pictures, so I didn’t have to go this route. 

3.       If using a timer, set the camera to take 10 (or more) pictures at once.  This way if you blink or are flipping your hair (which I realized I do A LOT) there will be other pictures and all that running back and forth wasn’t worthless.

4.       Relax!  Especially when taking pictures with kids.  They can feel the tension and it makes them tense too.  When Khloe finally laid her head on my chest in the last picture, both of us were exhausted.  I need to repeat this to myself over and over every day.  Not only for pictures. 

5.       Have fun!  You’re not trying to catch the perfect picture, you’re trying to capture memories.  I need to remind myself of this one too J

 

 

And just for giggles, here's an outtake photo that didn't make the cut :)

-Brooke