Customer Reviews

Photographing Children and Babies: How to Take Great Pictures

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great little book that takes all the mystery out of taking photos of your baby or child. Step-by-step instructions, how to avoid common pitfalls, and LOTS of top-notch illustrations to show before-and-after comparisons and how-to's. If you are a parent or a photographer bent on taking world-class photos of the little ones, this book is a must-have. Michel Heron couldn't make it any clearer or more simple. I wish I had this book 20 years ago when my son was a little guy!

I bought this book expecting more than what it was. Perhaps it was my fault for not spending more time researching before I bought a book, but whatever the case, I still think this book was slightly lacking. It was a very quick read with many common sense ideas which could be found easily by reading articles on the internet.

If you're just starting out with any type of photography, this may be helpful to you. If you've been taking informal pictures for awhile, you will likely already know most of this information.

This book has been very informative and the images help explain what the author is saying. I'm very much a visual learner and this book has been enjoyable to read and I think it's improved my photography skills. Wish I'd had it with my first baby instead of 5th but I guess it's never too late to learn new things.

This is truly a great book that gives you a ton of good advice without overwhelming you with all the terminology! Be sure you buy this book before you expect to photograph children, if possible (when you're still expecting a baby, for example). I bought this book when my baby turned 10 months, so two things happened:
1. By now, I've been trying to figure out how to take better pictures for so long that I stumbled upon some solutions on my own, and found some advice in shorter guides available online. I could have learned as much and more from this book in just 3 days had I purchased it earlier. Now, some of the stuff in the book seems repetitive to me, but I'm hoping to have my husband read it and start taking better pictures as well, so that it's not always Daddy and the baby in all the pictures.
2. While I was learning all the tricks on my own, I missed dozens of golden opportunities. It might sound funny coming from someone who shot thousands of pictures already, but I get very upset looking at my baby's first weeks and seeing all the mistakes I made and chances I missed.
So, once again - great book, get it early!

I have the privilege of reviewing this awesome photography book packed with cool tips and tutorials and below is my review of the book...

This is a great book for those of you who wants to take great pictures of children and babies!

When I first saw the book title, I was having some doubts as I seriously do not have any experience or knowledge at all in photography or camera stuff (see, I don't even know the proper jargon in photography world!) I researched further and found this in the product description "family-friendly guide shows parents how to dramatically improve their baby photos and create beautiful, memorable albums without extensive experience, technical knowledge, or equipment", oh hey, I'm in!!!

Like I said earlier, I have no experience in photography skills and I mostly use my trust Panasonic Lumix 10MP digital camera to take all my pictures. One thing that I always always do is to take loads and loads of pictures, since digital camera can store more pictures. I am happy to read that this is one of the tips found on page 21 which tells us to 'Shoot a Lot!' - so I guess, I'm doing something right here, hehehe...

I also learned that background (chapter 6) plays an important part in our photography as well and am glad to learn the tips and tutorials from this chapter. In chapter 7 (How Much Film Do You Need?) I also learned a lot on the things to look for during the editing process and I am practicing some of the criteria listed currently too.

The pictures in this book are totally gorgeous and beautiful and I love the basic 4 precepts on page 11 which tells you how to best improve our photographs.

In my opinion, Heron's book is a good one to invest in if you would like to take better (and professional looking!) pictures of children and babies!

Probably not the book for a professional photographer, however, I'm not a professional and Michael Herron didn't write this book for professionals. I just want to take great looking shots of my toddler and this book is fantastic in telling me how. I now understand about aperture, f/stops, shutter speed, light and the relevance of ISO. I have enjoyed reading this book and found a lot of my beliefs about photography were false, I never realised the pros took a heap of shots until they got that one they wanted! This book has taught me all the basics I need to know and helped to build my confidence to be able to take great shots. Thanks for such a wonderful book Michael Herron!

Photographing Children and Babies: How To Take Great Pictures is a complete guide for taking beautiful pictures of the young people in your life.

Photographing your children has never been easier! Follow the straightforward, practical tips and techniques found within these pages and you will learn how to improve your photographs dramatically without using any expensive or high quality equipment.

Inside you will find over 200 pages of photographs which will help you to understand the concepts being explained to help you express your children's personalities and antics. Whether you are using a digital camera or prefer film, you will learn how to take a variety of photos from different angles, including portraits, full-figure shots, action, group and close-ups.

You will be shown how to use artificial and natural lighting, recognize and avoid distracting backgrounds as well as plan indoor versus outdoor settings. There are also easy-to-follow guides on how to master technical issues such as lens type, depth of field, exposure, film speed, shutter speed, and how to take striking black and white photos.

Michal Heron has been a successful, freelance photographer for over thirty years and has worked with hundreds of babies, children and their parents. Currently she works on assignments for a variety of publishing and corporate clients as well as with stock photo agencies. She is a frequent lecturer at seminars and workshops throughout the United States. She is the co-author of "Pricing Photography: The Complete Guide to Assignment and Stock Prices" and the author of "How to Shoot Stock Photos That Sell" both from Allworth Press. She lives in New York City.

I thought this was a great guide to helping an amateur take some wonderful photos. The techniques explained are simple and easy to follow and the pictures that are supplied to give examples really help out with your understanding of the subject matter. The photos really do the guide justice.

I liked the friendly nature in which the children are shared with the reader, giving us a more personable feel to the techniques. I found everything understandable and think any novice to intermediate photographer would find many things to use. I thought the use of reflectors to aim the light on the subject perfectly to be quite interesting, it was the easiest explanation that I have found on that particular application. I didn't realize how much light can make or break a photo until you see the examples given.

I would recommend this to anyone serious about taking a better photo, trying to capture the right character in your child. Removing even the simplest of obstacles can make your picture great. It is well worth the read, I am sure everyone would find something out of it to help them better their current picture taking abilities!

I loved this book. Loved it. It was exactly what I wanted. I am a new mom whose photos were sadly lacking and I knew it. I just wanted some quick, basic tips on how to make my photos a better representation of my beautiful baby boy. I am so pleased with the results! I wish I could show you some before and after pictures. What a difference. I wish I'd gotten this book before he was born so his first 3 months of pictures didn't look like crap. But live and learn. If you don't know much about photography and you feel your pictures lack something--get this book. You won't be disappointed.

I found this book to be helpful in some areas and lacking in other but I did learn quiet a few helful tips on photographing children. The most important thing and it is covered throughout the book is lighting.It talks about where to take pictures and at what time of day is best.This book focuses mainly on outdoor or inside pictures with natural light and touches here and there on artificial,it would have been nice to have a little more on artificial lighting though. There are so many examples of pictures the author has taken so you will know exactly what she is talking about and gives you lots of ideas for portraits and what type of angle/frame is best for different age groups,everything is explained very clearly. I really enjoyed reading this book and I feel that it has truly helped to improve my photography skills.

I haven't finished the entire book yet, but I am finding it very useful. The reccomendations are simple and the text is well written and easy to understand.