We all have professional-level cameras in our phones, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we take professional-level photos. Getting a great shot can be especially challenging with children, who don’t always want to cooperate with their parents’ best-laid plans. To learn more about what goes into taking memorable photographs, including the best spots around St. Louis to take them, we sought insight from two local professional photographers, Jodie Allen of Fresh Art Photography, and Irene Kinghorn of Four Fireflies Photography.
Getting kids to sit still and cooperate with staged photos can be tough. Do you have any tips or tricks for getting little ones to go along?
Discover fun things to do with the family
Subscribe to the St. Louis Family newsletter for family-friendly things to do and news for local parents, sent every Monday.
Jodie Allen: Two things. First, check your own attitude. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but a lot of times, you’ll find that your attitude influences theirs. If you can make the experience fun without screaming at them or chastising them, you’ll get way better photos. My biggest trick—honest to God—is potty humor. If you look at any of my photos where families are laughing, it’s probably because we’ve played something like the Telephone Game, or joked about stinky feet or stinky toots.
Irene Kinghorn: Work around naptime and don’t ever try to take posed pictures before lunchtime. I think the most important thing is to have realistic expectations of your child. If you have a 2-year-old that just loves to run around all the time, trying to take a picture where they’re just sitting still might not be the best choice. You might want to go for more of a lifestyle option and have them be silly. For children who are younger, squeaky toys, funny faces, and bubbles can get them to smile. I love bubbles, especially for toddlers.
What about candid photos? Do you have any advice for parents who want to capture a moment as it’s happening?
JA: I tell all my clients to just keep shooting. Don’t tell your kids to smile. Don’t yell at them. Don’t tell them to say cheese. Just take a ton of photos and delete the bad ones later. Sometimes you don’t have time to think about all of the technical things, like light. Simply capturing the moment can be more important than capturing the moment beautifully.
IK: Taking the pictures that you can at any moment is more important than not taking pictures of anything. But if you’re in a situation where you can move in such a way that the light is falling on your kids’ faces a little better as opposed to being at their backs, that’s great. Also, get down to their eye level so you’re seeing them as they see themselves.
Where are some of the best locations around St. Louis to take family photos?
JA: It definitely depends on what each family is looking for. I have a list of locations that get good morning light, and a list of locations that get good sunset light. I try not to shoot in the middle of the day because the sun is high and harsh. Blackburn Park in Webster Groves works in the morning and evening. West Tyson Park in Eureka gets great morning light, and what’s neat about that park is there is a little creek, a little bridge, and there’s this amazing forest where the sun sort of comes up over a hill and gives this golden glow. I also really love urban spaces, so places like The Grove or Cherokee Street are great. There’s also a cool Instagram account called @muralsofstlouis that can help serve as a great way to explore the city. I tell clients that if they love the idea of an urban space and a colorful background, find a mural you love and go there.
IK: One of my go-to parks is Lafayette Park. It’s not really a big secret, but I like to use the part of Lafayette where not everybody goes. On one side of the park, there’s this little stone path with flowers and trees that’s like a little secret garden. If you’re a family that likes something a little different, the riverfront flood wall is a really fun place, especially if you have older kids or teenagers who might not be super excited about sitting in a park. You do have to watch the sun there, so I recommend going on a cloudy day or in the morning. Otherwise, there’ll be a lot of sun in your face. The Missouri Botanical Garden is also really good. Attached to the Climatron is the Temperate House, which has some cute benches and a little garden.
Are there any apps that can make the editing process easier for the amateur photographers out there?
JA: I actually just use the editing feature that comes with the iPhone camera. You can up the exposure, add a little contrast, or bring the shadows down. iPhones, I think, tend to shoot on the cooler side, so I turn up the warmth on a lot of my photos. But you can do all of the basic things like that in the built-in camera app.
IK: I recommend Adobe Lightroom. It’s going to give you the most ability to change things. It does have a big learning curve because it teaches you to edit, not just stick a filter on there. But with a little bit of YouTubing, you can learn how to do some basic stuff and you’re going to get a lot further with giving your pictures some extra punch.
