Fun in the forest!

Last weekend we ventured out to the New Forest (not far from us) for a very cold and muddy afternoon walk.  We all wrapped up warm and I took along my camera (I rarely leave the house without it!) and captured some lovely moments from the afternoon that I'd like to share here.

I also heard that Zulily (a site offering flash sales with fantastic discounts of up to 90% off products for Mums and their little ones) were running a competition to share a few tips on taking photos of children.  So I decided to base my entry on the photos I took on our walk.  They are also running a Zulily Cuties Instagram competition alongside this where you could win a £100 voucher by entering a photo of your little one.

Here are the 3 main things I think about when I'm taking photos of The Princess and The Pickle...

1.  Don't worry if they're not looking at the camera and smiling.  I love taking action shots, photos of The Princess and The Pickle walking or running along - pictures like this remind me of the fun they have together.  I love the look of concentration on The Princess' face as she walks across the cattle grid - she was determined to walk over it, going through the gate is no fun!

Click on photos for larger view

(but of course, it's equally as nice to get a few photos when they do look at the camera!)

2.  Find exciting backgrounds or interesting lighting.  The light coming through the trees created a really magical scene here.  Normally I wouldn't take photos with the glare of the sun in the way but I think it works very well in the photo of The Princess running - it's unusual and captures the moment.

 
3.  Let the kids have fun!!  The Princess and The Pickle absolutely love splashing in puddles, kicking through leaves and climbing and I've managed to get loads of lovely pictures of them enjoying being outdoors.  I also like the angles of the photos below, especially the last one.  You know they're having fun when they lose a welly boot (or two) in the mud and end up crying with laughter! 

So there are my 3 main tips for taking photos of children.  I'm not an expert (far from it!) and I haven't got a fantastic camera (actually quite a cheap one we bought with nectar points!), some days I'll take around 100 photos and end up with 5 or 6 really nice ones, but those 5 or 6 will be treasured forever.