Evening star., 1950-05-14
Camera Angles
Study of Habits Aids Child Photooroohy
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
curusor Of Photography
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Your interest in baby photog-
raphy will develop right along
with the child. Every day the
little one learns something new
and is eager to demonstrate this
added bit of knowledge for your
entertainment. There are periods
in the development of a child
where he will follow a pattern
common to all humans. You will
undoubtedly wish to keep faith
full record of all the tricks and
antics as they develop and before
the baby moves on to greater
things.
There will also be special occa-
sions such as baby's first BIRTH
day, the first tooth. ETC.. etc. Pre-
viously we have discussed pho
Biography of the very young baby,
the crawler. and the toddler. Now
we feel that it is time to go a
step further and make a few Sug-
gestions as to procedure of taking
shots Of the youngster about the
time he reaches his first birthday.
Babies, at this time. and for quite
a while thereafter. are sure to put
you to the acid test when it comes
to taking pictures.
The last bit of cooperation I
got from my most recent family
addition was on the day he was
allowed to 'cut" his first birthday
cake. Perhaps this was due to the
shock of being presented with a
whole cake. At any rate he put
on a real show for my camera
from the first look of astonish-
ment to the final act of demoli-
tion-with whipped cream icing
flying in all directions.
Using Psychology on Children.
BY the end of the first year,
baby will have lost that first blush
of innocent indifference when you
set up your picture taking equip
ment. He will be curious and,
like as not, will rush forward and
try to grab the camera lens just as
you think you are ready to take
an exposure. This can become
mighty trying-especially after
about the tenth time it happens.
So you will have to use a bit of
cunning yourself and try to con-
fine your young subject in such
way that he doesn't realize what
you are up to. The idea is to use
a bit of psychology and make him
think he is doing thus and so for
his own amusement.
Once he gets on to the idea that
he is in certain spot for some
purpose other than his own, moth
ing will do but a change of
scenery-and fast. The older a
baby gets the quicker he will tire
Of toy or game. So you will have
to learn to be ready and shoot
pictures as fast as is humanity
possible.
The highchair or baby table are
ideal spots for taking pictures.
Baby is usually ready to get into
the highchair because he in
stantly envisions food and will
likely remain happy there long
enough for you to take few pic
tures-provided you hold his in
terest. You can do this in one Of
several ways. The best is to plan
your shooting schedule to coincide
with baby's feeding time.
Helps in Critical Focus.
The highchair is also useful to
keep baby is one position so you
can relax without having to re-
focus your camera between shots.
The best plan is to get a critical
focus with the lens wide open and
then stop down as far as possible.
Then if he should move slightly
out of the plane of focus the
stopped down aperture will still
provide a sharp picture.
The Stern-parent act is no good
at all at this age. Such an at
titude will only injure tender feel
ings and bring on floods of tears
and associate cameras with
punishment, with the net result
that you may have all kinds of
trouble in the future when you
bring out your camera. So you
will have to deal with your little
tot according to the special cir