K1 Challenge #2: The Kid Pic

Our KelbyOne Challenges are all inspired by Scott Kelby’s best-selling Digital Photography Book Series. You can purchase any of the books at our online store here. Want to see the next challenge themes? Click here!

Congrats to our first #KelbyOneChallenge winner Robert Arbuthnot! Each week, we choose a winner to be published in our award-winning Photoshop User Magazine and at the end of the 10-week challenge, Scott Kelby will choose our grand-prize winner, who will win a full-year KelbyOne Membership AND be featured in the magazine.

Challenge 2: The Kid Pic
Dates: 6/8 – 6/14 at 11:59pm ET
Winner Announced: Wednesday, 6/17 on The Grid Live at 4pm ET

Get Out From Behind the Camera for Kids and Don’t Shoot Down!
By Scott Kelby

CHALLENGE TIPS
Excerpts from The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3

TIP 1: Get Out From Behind the Camera for Kids

I learned a great trick from Jack Reznicki, a friend who shoots high-end commercial shots of children for print ads and displays in stores (and he’s one of the absolute best out there). What Jack does is put the camera in position on a tripod, then rather than being stuck back behind the camera (and putting something between the child and the photographer), he comes right out in front, down on the floor, to get the child engaged. Now you can totally interact with the child, and focus on getting reactions and emotions that are usually so hard to create when your head is buried in the back of a camera.

To make this happen, all you need is a wireless shutter release (B&H Photo carries these for all the major brands), and now it’s just you and your subject—and you both can focus on the fun that makes such memorable shots.

By Scott Kelby

TIP 2: Don’t Shoot Down on Kids

If you’re unhappy with your shots of kids, it may be because you’re shooting them like most people do — from a standing position, so basically you’re shooting down at them. The problem with this is that, on an average day, that’s how we see most children, with us in a standing position looking down at them, and if we photograph them from the same viewpoint, that’s how the photos are going to look—average. The trick is to shoot from their level—get down on one knee, or sit (or even lay) on the floor, to capture them from a viewpoint we normally don’t see, which honestly changes everything. It’s one of the easiest things you can do that will have the greatest impact on your images.

CHALLENGE IMAGE
Use the following image as a point of reference for this challenge.

By Scott Kelby

PS — Submissions accepted in the following places. One per person, please. Must be tagged #KelbyOneChallenge in the post.

1) Facebook
2) Twitter
3) Instagram

Also, please share this post. See those little social icons below? It would mean so much if you shared with your social-media family! Thank you — and happy training! –Ajna