Capturing Little Ones with iPhone

Apr 30, 2020

Photo Tips

How can my heart be filled with happiness yet broken at the same time? This is how I feel every time I scroll through the photos on my phone or Instagram squares. You probably heard this a million times but time is fleeting fast. With the fade of each season, the tiniest of things change – the bangs grow a little longer and are now covering their eyes (and you refuse to cut it), a new tooth has sprouted, more personality emerges. Our little ones grow up fast and we are longing for those tiny moments and images provides a sort of comfort.

Don’t wait to start capturing joy. When Aliyana was born, I use to think a good photo needed to be one taken with my DSLR but this time around, the majority of my Magali photos are taken with my iPhone. The best moments happen quickly and cannot be replicated so I found that my phone was the best fit for this.

Here are some iPhone photo & editing tips when shooting indoors

Light Source

  • Look for pockets in your home with lots of natural light. In Vancouver where it’s gloomy 6 months of the year, pull up the curtains to let every single ounce of light in!
  • Shoot close to your light source (a large window) I’m a big fan of sidelight and front light when I’m photographing in my home. Sidelight is when you’re standing parallel to the window and the light coming in is hitting the side of your face. You’ll get some shadows here but a quick little hack could be holding up a white bedsheet to bounce a bit light back onto your face. 
  • Front light is when you are facing the light source (a window). You will be evenly lit so you don’t have to worry about weird shadows.
Side light – light source is the window on the right-hand side
Front Light – window is on the opposite side of where I am standing

Background

  • Keep the background neutral and minimize clutter. The last thing you want is to have a beautiful image with a cluttered background. When I photograph in clients homes, I always ask that they clear the designated shooting space of clutter and keep it simple and neutral as possible. If you like bright and airier photos, there usually isn’t a lot of nooks in the home you can shoot in so I try my best always to keep the surrounding area clear of clutter most of the time. For me, it’s my bedroom and my living room.
My bedroom is one of my favourite places to photograph in because it’s south-facing so there is a ton of natural light that floods in throughout the day and it’s almost always free of clutter on this side of the room.

Composition

  • Don’t cut off your feet right at the ankles or at your knees. It’ll make for an awkward photo. When in doubt, I always photograph the entire body and do my cropping when I’m editing.
  • Hold your iPhone up high or stand on a stool to capture top-down moments, it gives you a different perspective only you can see. I particularly like shooting up high when I’m wearing Magali. I get to see her sweet face when she’s all snuggled in the wrap or carrier.
I stood on a stool for this one. I thought this indoor picnic moment was adorable.
Because you’re up high, the kids can’t see what you’re doing so they are usually really natural and in their element – no awkward photos from this angle.

Top-down of babies in a wrap is my absolute favourite thing. Capturing the facial details when they’re sleeping is everything.
Top-down motion is another one I do a lot especially when Aliyana is riding her bike or when we’re holding hands walking together. Although they’re a bit blurry, turn it into black and white for an extra nostalgic moment.

Self-Timer

  • The good ol’ self-timer! If you don’t already use it, give it a try. Set up your shot, step in, and voila!
This was a self-timer photo and I loved how it turned out. With a timer, you can take a few images at a once so I was able to capture a moment I really loved.

Final iPhone Tips

  • Clean your lens before shooting
  • Tap to focus and then slide that little sun slider up and down until your image looks good on your phone.
  • The better your light source, the more crips your photos will be!

There is never a “better” time to start documenting life with your little ones. I wanted to take this opportunity to start a photo & journal challenge each month. My goal is for you to walk away decades from now with certain memories so fresh in your mind as if those little feet were climbing all over you only yesterday. A memory that could’ve been forgotten if you didn’t take that photo or scribbled in the journal.

April (Quarantine) Photo & Journal Challenge:
I challenge you to find a beautiful light pocket in your home our outdoors and photograph you and your little ones doing a fun activity together (i.e. doing a puzzle, baking, or just sitting around eating breakfast).

April 6, 2020 – Tangled Limbs / The warmth of the sun beamed down on us as we sat in the backyard trying to locate the woodpecker. It felt as though time stopped for a brief moment, no one was upset or needed anything from me other than my presence. All I felt was calm in this current chaos.

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