Top 5 Children Photographers and Their Secrets

Top 5 Children Photographers and Their Secrets

What are certain photographers doing that make them popular? Surprisingly enough, things like gear, location, social media skills and post production have very little to do with it. Believe it or not, it's something far more important and it's not often discussed.  Here is the common secret all five photographers shared that makes their work stand out.

 

Any successful photographer will tell you the most common question they get asked is "What lens do you use?" when really they should be asked "if you can pinpoint one thing that made you successful what would it be?" Since this is not asked often enough, I decided to bring it to five photographers I think are successful. 

Much to my astonishment, their answers all revolved around two things: they approach photography as a method to capture a story and they do this by communicating properly with their subjects.

 Magdalena Berny:

I think my photography attracts attention with its simplicity. I believe that less is more. What made me successful is the fact that my pictures are due more in need of creation than observation. I invent a story in my mind and the children play the role of a hero in the scene. My pictures are mostly staged and I think the key is that I always try to tell the children the story I want to introduce.

 

Lisa  Holloway:

I feel what has made me stand out and brought on the popularity of my work is the amazing, soulful, and serious expressions I capture. It's not as hard as it may seem! Patience is a virtue - take the time to get to know your subject. Talk to them, be interested, ask questions, be silly! Don't shove a camera in their face the second you meet them. Good things come to those who wait. Have [their] mom and dad wait in the car - getting the child away from their parents is so important. It allows them to relax and be more natural with you. Once you have developed a comfortable repertoire - remember, DON'T rush it. Try this little trick: have them close their eyes. The camera suddenly disappears from the scene, and any stress that it may have caused will melt away. Tell them to relax their face and think about something that makes them happy. On the count of three, have them open their eyes and look at you. THIS is when you take the shot. With a little luck, you will get a fresh, genuine expression and the perfect picture.

 

 Kevin Cook:

The hardest thing for me was getting cooperation from the children I worked with. I know it is the expression that makes a photograph. Once I learned it’s all about patience and understanding, my work took off. Additionally, capturing a story goes hand in hand with the expression.  I would say it’s really smart to find inspiration from someone or something. Ironically enough, I actually get most of mine from movie/book covers with children on them.  It helps put a vision in your head to spin off of.  These two things are far more important than anything else if you want your work to stand out.

 

Nikki Harrison:

I can say that "this" is my secret -  capturing the most amazing poses from the children. Here is how I do it: As soon as a child meets me for their portrait, I get down to their level. I squat, sit, kneel, whatever it takes to make them look into my face. I then introduce myself and ask them about themselves, what they like, their favorite joke, [things like that], to make them super comfortable with me. Then, if I can, I show them images of what the parents have already discussed and what they want to create. I show the child what we are going to do, and let them know its magic and that they have to listen to every word I say. THEY DO. I tell parents in advance not to say anything and in most cases have them stand directly behind me. I shoot from the ground so the eyes go in the right direction. That is my big secret to the best poses. 

 

 

Jake Olson:

 What I  feel I owe my success to is the fact my top priority is capturing the right moment. The most important aspect of  my images is the story it portrays. Photographing kids and shooting at very large apertures to get the creamy bokeh makes this difficult. Typically if my client isn’t cooperative I will still get keepers between poses albeit more candid or animated. I always try to capture movement for more narrative images. What I find helps is asking them to play with dirt or throw leaves etc. I shoot at six frames a second on a Canon 5D mark III to capture movement and then I select or combine the best aspects of certain scenes into one exposure. Meaning If I like the falling leaves in one shot but the expression in the other I combine the two images. I always shoot in locations that I know work best, this way I can concentrate on giving the  subject the proper attention they need to capture the best possible expression. 

 

After talking with each of the photographers, I had to take a step back in astonishment. I was amazed that all five photographers had very similar opinions regarding the "secret" to being a successful photographer. Magdalena, Lisa, Kevin, Nikki and Jake tought me that communicating with the subject to capture the perfect expression is crucial to creating mind-blowing images.  It's clear that each and every one of them has a serious passion for what they do. It made me realize that when speaking with other photographers, it's important to ask questions that aren't typical or expected. You learn the most from them. The last thing to ask a photographer is "what lens do you use?"

Dani Diamond's picture

Dani Diamond is a fashion and commercial photographer based out of NYC. He is known for his naturally lit portraits and unique retouching techniques.

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50 Comments

Great article and goes to show that communication is key for any photographer no matter the subject... Some amazing work here... so inspiring

very welcome..

Great article Dani!

Very interesting and inspiring ! The photographers you choose are excellent. My favourite in Magdalena whose work I have been following for years. A good read !

We need more articles like these.

YES!

Could have sworn the secret was going to be post production.

Wonderful article, Dani. I am honored to be included among such great talent. :)

Love the wise words Lisa.

great work Lisa, love your edits.

Great job Dani Diamond once again.

These are some really spectacular photos!

Elena Shumilova....Have you heard of this name Dani ? I think she should be on top of the list ..!! anyone disagree ?

Awesome article Dani, great post and vision has more to do than anything.

Couldn't agree with you more Dani, and also the vision to take that photo and edit it consistently. I love all your posts these photographers are the best children photographers I have ever seen makes me want to quit. But my wife would never let me since she's my biggest fan.

Great article and great artists.... very inspiring and keep the tips in mind for the next time I shoot childeren. Hard to choose the best of them, everybody have their own specialty.

Wow! What an amazing post (: all of theses children photographers photigraphy is awesome. I love jake olsons work first came across it on a 500px post shooting natural light portraits. I agree with asking photographers what lens they used. Even thorough from time to time I wonder what lens was use haha I'm more into how a photographer got an expression and also how one markets.

Ya he's pretty big on 500px that's where I discovered him and his shots on that awesome road he always uses.

thank u dani article is super interesting as always mate ;)

Great article! I really can't tolerate other people's kids very much unless I already know them (like my son's friends and team or classmates).

I would be very cautious about having mom or dad out of sight though. Many parents flat out won't agree to this unless they already know you. I know quite a few that will not leave their children with men at all, except the father. It's illogical and irrational, I get that. But some people really do believe everyone is out to molest their kids. That's really not a liability I'm willing to take on. A lot of my friends wonder why I don't venture into the children's market rather than the rough and tumble "guy" stuff I do, and I flat out tell them that the parents are just nuts these days.

True but I feel once you build a name and people know your work they will feel more comfortable. Additionally, I don't think the photographers are telling them to drop off the kids and leave. hey are most likely just asking the parents to bring along an ipad and sit on the side lines and out of the way.

I don't think these parents I speak of care about how reputable you are, because you are still a stranger. And I do think most parents are reasonable people. But many will not allow their children to go back by themselves at the dentist office for paranoia that the dentist or staff will molest them. No joke. It's worse for men than women, but it seems like a lot of parents these days have hijacked the crazy train. I'm a PTA mom, I hear it all lol.

I guess I should clarify what I mean by that - I get the best results when the parents give me space to work without them distracting the child. There is nothing worst than having a parent standing behind you (and always off to the side lol) and jumping around ridiculously trying to get their attention. That does not elicit the looks and expressions I am after at all. Even having them walk away - 50ft or so - will give me the space I need. I do agree that people tend to think the worst about other people these days. I realize I probably have it a little easier with this just by the mere fact that I'm female. It's dumb, but that's the way society has been trained to think.

What Albert said. Take stuff like that with a grain of salt.

I looove this article!!! How do you pull off so many popular articles Dani. This is great. Nice collages as well.

There are so many amazing photographer in the world and I am so humbled by your choice. Thank you. I will get better in time!

Great article Dani! Thank you for sharing :)

You have done a great job at picking some amazing artists/photographs...

Hi Dani, I only started reading your articles recently (dont know if you've written them for long and I hadnt noticed), but I truly believe this is the stuff we photographers look for in these articles. Great job.

Very nice article, Dani ! we need to hear/ read over and over again that is isn't always about the lens, body, gear, and start taking much more time talking to our clients

Good interviews
They all share the same affinity of trying the subjects not to feel them as an alien

Great article, Thanks Dani. So what lens do you use? just kidding!!!

I have some new photographers to learn from :) thank you <3

Very classy , well thought out composition and very beautifully exposed. Great work !

Great photographers ! Great article... but ... a question is still in my mind... what lens are they using ???

"I know it is the expression that makes a photograph." Kevin Cook.
Remember the memorable National Geographic's photograph of the Afghan girl in the Pakistan refugee camp. Thanks. Great article

There is no article on this page. Just a title and photo. Where's the article?

Would love to read this article, but it's not working :(

I love you Fstoppers, but I want a fully decent article about Jake now. In light of the new info. Really.

So I have been doing photography of people jumping horses and a friend asked me to do some portrait photography for them now they think it is odd for someone that is older than they are to do some photography. I said I understand and would not take anymore family photos or them jumping there horses even know I got some really nice shots. So what should i do

Just stumble across this article. You know what got my attention the most? No one is smiling. This is a style suited for teenage models. Sure, many moms would kill for modeling photos like that but I would not call it children photography.