toddler photography

After having children, I quickly learned that relying on pricey photo shoots and the gracious generosity of dear photographer friends was not practical to capture all the moments I wanted of my two babies. So… I took up the hobby of Photography. Hesitantly at first, but embracing it more and more as I continued to learn. A couple books here, a new lens there, and a photographer friend’s advice to boot – and I am slowly but surely starting to improve.

This means practice. Lots and lots of practice. Pictures of everything. Kids playing. Kids sleeping. Kids eating. Kids crying. Everything. At these beginning stages, I rely on the theory that if I take 1000 pictures, at least 1 of them is bound to turn out. I figure that my semi-obsession peaked once my toddler began carrying around a coaster, plastering it over his eyes, and yelling “SAY CHEEEEEEESSEEE!!” every 3-5 minutes.

Well. We can’t let the poor guy walk around with a rubber coaster glued to his face. So we talked Santa into bringing him a toy camera for Christmas (the VTech Kidizoom Camera). A heck of a step up from a coaster, if you ask me. (Really? Kids’ cameras these days have memory, zoom, and a video recorder?? That’s better than my first 10 adult cameras).

Back to the point. Our son now walks around with a kiddie camera glued to his face, constantly imploring us to “WAIT” while he counts to an arbitrary number (sometimes 3, sometimes 10, sometimes 17) before yelling “SAY CHEEEEESSEEE!!”

It finally dawned on me that we could actually download the pictures he was taking – and so I did. And it has given me a glimpse into his world, these photos through the eyes of a toddler.

To begin, a few atmospheric shots. Here is one of his kitchen – specifically the fridge and cupboard.

Kitchen, by Toddler

And another one, of the counter.

Counter, by Toddler

Now for a close-up.

Counter Close-Up, by Toddler

And the floor is also very important. Glad he captured this.

Floor, by Toddler

Don’t forget a perspective shot. At dinner.

At Dinner Table, by Toddler

And he couldn’t forget the Christmas tree!

Christmas Tree, by Toddler

Now that he had better familiarized himself with the camera, he decided to move on to some live subjects. First, the dog.

Dog, by Toddler

Then an artsy close up.

Dog Napping, by Toddler

And finally, a pretty impressive head shot. At eye level.

Dog Head Shot, by Toddler

Not too shabby! At this point, he was ready to tackle something a little more challenging – his brother. A nice action shot, with professional-like off centering of his subject.