How to Photograph Children: Secrets for Capturing Childhood's Magic Moments

Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: After Rick Staudt took portraits of our 4-month old son, I fell in love with his work and was excited for his new book, co-authored with Lisa Jane. I was not disappointed -- the book is fantastic. It is very easy to follow and understand even though I have no photography experience, yet it isn't condescending at all. While I look forward to having our son's annual portraits done by Rick in the future, I am also looking forward to using some of his simple advice for better pictures year round. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Very useful book!
Review: As an amateur/hobbyist photographer for 20+ years as well as an avid reader I have read a lot of books on the subject, but none as fun to read as this. It contains lots of practical advice about composition and lighting as well as basics about film and equipment selection. The authors also tell how they got a particular shot, and give very clear examples and advice about technique. I recommended this book to several friends and relatives who wanted a basic book about photography, and, although the focus is on children's photography, this advice is translatable to other areas as well.
I was very impressed by the conversational tone and humorous approach which is often evident. What was great was that they encourage a lot of experimentation and they are not camera snobs - they actually acknowledge that such things as point & shoot & single use cameras are in use and tell you how to get the best of them, without making you feel like you're somewhat inferior if you're not using an SLR or medium format.
All in all, I highly recommend this book. Did I mention that the photos are great and the feeling is that they are actually attainable by the average amateur photographer?

Rating:
Summary: Helps you get the perfect picture!
Review: Have a child at home? Once you read through this book you'll find yourself saying "Of course - how intuitive!" Suggestions are presented clearly and with photos to help you maximize good pictures for the fussy kid. A must have for every parent.

Rating:
Summary: Helps you get the perfect picture!
Review: Have a child at home? Once you read through this book you'll find yourself saying "Of course - how intuitive!" Suggestions are presented clearly and with photos to help you maximize good pictures for the fussy kid. A must have for every parent.

Rating:
Summary: Very useful book!
Review: I almost didn't even pick-up this book because of the title. I have no interest in photographing children. But almost everything in this book applies to photographing people. Both the writing and photography are very good. The content is concise, well organized and straight to the point. The example photos are those that any weekend shutterbug can aspire to create, not overwhelming masterpieces that would take years of experience and tons of equipment. And technique applies to any type of camera.

Rating:
Summary: Better Title - How to Photograph People
Review: I almost didn't even pick-up this book because of the title. I have no interest in photographing children. But almost everything in this book applies to photographing people. Both the writing and photography are very good. The content is concise, well organized and straight to the point. The example photos are those that any weekend shutterbug can aspire to create, not overwhelming masterpieces that would take years of experience and tons of equipment. And technique applies to any type of camera.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: I am a beginning photographer, and this book was very helpful, the shots in it are beautiful and it gives lots of helpful tips on how to acheive the children's portraits you want. I reccommend this book to any beginner who wants to take wonderful kids photos.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book For Beginners
Review: I am just learning about photography and I found this book to be very helpful. It covers almost everything; composition, film, lighting, outdoors, indoors, and a lot more. As one reviewer stated, you don't have to be interested in child photography to get some great info from this book because most information can be used for photographing people of any age. If you are just beginning photography, I highly recommend this book, you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: How to Photograph Children...
Review: I think this book was wonderful. It stated the basics to get you going then added more detail when needed. The camera jargon was not overwhelming in any way, and the lighting suggestions were great. I read through the whole book then went back and highlighted the most needed parts. I would recommend this book to any parent wanting to take more memorable pictures of their children. Deserves 5 stars without a doubt.

Rating:
Summary: A bit lacking in depth
Review: I've been using an SLR for many years, and am pretty familiar with how cameras work and how to take good pictures. What I had been hoping for from this book was some advice on how to take what I already knew about photography one step further when taking pictures of my kids.

The book goes over some basics about photography at a high level, talking about the types of cameras, some basics like aperture and shutter speed, types of film, etc. There are better books out there that go into more detail if you need this sort of information.

Other than equipment, the book has a pretty good discussion about lighting. It talks about when to take pictures (i.e., avoid harsh sunlight), and some good suggestions regarding reflectors. It also has a discussion on how to use flashes for best effect.

The information I was really interested in was the discussion on how to photograph children at various ages, and that was maybe half of the book. Most of it would be common sense to parents, i.e. don't try to force kids to do what they don't want to do, make sure you don't try to take pictures around nap-time, etc. The rest, I'm not sure how useful it will be, since 90% of the time I'm taking pictures while visiting somewhere like the park, the zoo, the aquarium, etc.

I guess that of the material in the book, I found about a small part of it useful. For someone who is new to photography, a general photography book would be better than the cursory overview in this book. The discussion on lighting was welcome, but I think there's much more to it than what they've discussed, so I'm leaning toward looking into some books specifically on lighting for photography.

So, to summarize, while there may be some interesting material in the book, the lack of depth in most areas makes me question if it's really worth $18. I don't get the feeling that this is one that I'll be using over and over again as a reference.