Birthday Party Photography Tips

They grow so quickly and each birthday is an opportunity to record another milestone in your child’s life. So whether it is their first or their 21st birthday, you’ll want to make sure you capture the whole celebration and all it’s fun.

Here are some tips to help make your birthday photos even more special.

Firstly, make sure the camera is fully charged the night before and that you have enough memory on your memory card – there is nothing worse that finding out the battery is low and you forgot to pack another battery. And if you have another memory card – make sure that is with your camera bag.

Birthdays are always filled with smiles, laughter, hugs and kisses. So make sure your camera is always at the ready. Candid photos capture emotions much better than formal posed photos so be ready and keep an eye out for those spontaneous moments!

Although there are now computer programs that can remove “red eye”, it is much simpler to avoid it in the first place. Check your camera manual to see if your camera has the “red eye reduction feature” – it usually a case of turning it on with the push of a button. “Red eye” is merely the eye’s reaction to the camera’s flash so other ways to avoid it is to not use the flash at all i.e. turn on lights in the room or move to a lighter area, or if you use the flash then get the subject to not look directly at the camera but rather at your shoulder.

With birthdays comes birthday cakes and with birthday cakes comes candles. No birthday party is complete without the blowing out of the candles. Make sure you are ready with your camera and in the right position so you can capture the exact moment those puffed up cheeks extinguish the tower of candles (and without other people in the way of your photo). If you want to have the glow of the candles in the photo you will need to turn off your flash. If you have your camera on the automatic setting, it will probably want to use the flash as you will presumably be in a darken room to get the greatest effect of the candles. Turn off the flash and prop the camera against or on something to steady the camera and prevent everything blurring. You could use the tabletop, the top of a chair, a stack of books or use a tripod, if you have one.

If however, you are going to use the camera flash then know your camera’s flash range (again it will be in your manual) – if you are outside of the range then your photos will be too dark or too light.

Get in close and photograph the “action” – it is the important things you want in the photograph – your child, family, friends and the food and decorations - plus no one needs to see the clutter in the house! Check your camera’s manual to see how close you can get to things before everything goes blurry i.e. the focusing distance of your camera.

After the big day remember to share the moments. There are many easy ways to do this in today’s digital age. If you have a few photos to share, then email them and remember to keep the file sizes relatively small so as not to clog people’s inboxes. If you have several photos then load them up onto one of the many free websites available today and send the link to friends and family. And if you are sending out thank you cards then why not use a printed photo as the card itself or send a CD of the photos.

Lastly, have fun! It is your child’s happy day and if everyone is having fun then it will show through in all of your photos!