Capturing The Essence of Childhood

These sweet childhood years are so precious and fleeting. If you’re anything like me you want to capture every moment so that you can hold on to it forever. But how do you go about capturing the essence of childhood in a two dimensional picture? Well, it’s all in the details.

Photographs where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera are great, but when I look at a photo I want to feel like I’m transported back to that very moment. I want to remember how I felt, what was happening, and what my child was like at that point in their life. So, instead of perfectly posed photos I try to capture all the little things. The things that make them unique… The things of childhood… The precious details.

To me, these are priceless.

Little hands exploring grass for the first time…

Wild toddler hair, telling the story of day full of play, even in rest.

Special moments between siblings.

The way they are always collecting flowers for me.

Messy kid play.

I will treasure these memories.

Capturing the Essence of Childhood Using This Photography Style

You’ll notice in these photos I’ve chosen to blur the background to really focus on the detail I’m capturing. This is an easy enough look to achieve if you have a DSLR camera.

Switch your camera to Manual mode or Aperture Priority mode (Av) and choose a “large” aperture. Remember, the smaller the number, the larger the aperture and the smaller the depth of field (the area that is in focus). The photos in this post were all shot between f1.4 and f2.2.
Get in nice and close to your subject and fill the frame.
Focus your camera on what you want sharp, and snap!

For additional tips read:

Basic Photography Tips for New DSLR Moms: Artistic Portraits of Kids

The more you play around with it, the easier capturing the essence of childhood becomes.

So next time you pick up your camera, forget about who’s looking your way, forget about who’s smiling and who’s not. Capture the memorable details!

Meet Sara of Happiness is Here. She loves photography, chocolate, Harry Potter, spending time in nature, life learning, and being a mum to her four beautiful girls. She and her family enjoy an unschooling lifestyle in Australia. She holds a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, but boasts that being a mother to her girls (and helping them learn about the world) is by far her greatest achievement and joy.