DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

 
@diyphotography
Instagram

Submit A Story

How magic ponies can help to keep kids and pets under control in front of your camera

Share12
Tweet48
+1

October 11, 2017 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

They say to never work with children or animals, but as a photographer, it sometimes can’t be helped. I avoid kids at all cost, preferring animals. Photographer, Paul Monaghan, though, is happy to photograph kids, as he recently did for some school portraits. Of course, photographing a bunch of little kids isn’t easy.

They have short attention spans and get distracted easily. They don’t want to have to sit and look at a camera pretending to enjoy themselves. So, Paul enlisted the help of his “magic pony”. It’s a great technique to get the attention of those you want to face the camera, so DIYP had a chat with Paul about it.

I was shooting an annual calender shoot for a local school, it’s a fund raising thing where the kids dress up as different themes

The horse ended up there thanks to one of the parents at the shoot. Getting 20+ kids to look the same way isn’t that easy and I was asking them to look at my hand only for them to raise their hands.

The joy of working with young children who aren’t entirely sure what you’re asking them to do.

It was mostly for the nursery kids section, they started shouting cheese pony which I found pretty funny and It worked as it held their attention much better than the camera did alone.

Paul’s used this technique before with children, although usually individually, not in groups. He finds that they tend to respond best to their own personal favourite toy or character. This then (don’t laugh) evolved into a hand puppet (again, don’t laugh).

I had done this like this before by holding a kids favourite toy above my lens, this then evolved to a handpuppet (fluffy magicians bunny in a tophat) that I used to place over my flash, photography is all about improvising and using what you can do get the job done.

And, as for the animals, it works for those, too. Using their favourite toys or a treat.

One of my most epic family shots had me using a dog biscuit to get the familys dog just perfect in the frame.

I use this trick with animals often, too. Food or their favourite toys draws their gaze and gets them looking where you want them to look.

Who know it’d also work on kids? I still wouldn’t want to photograph them, though.

Share12
Tweet48
+1

Related posts:

This photographer doesn’t just find locations, he builds his sets from scratch Photographers rock! These are 10 great musicians who are also great photographers This photographer creates his own tiny worlds with mini figurines and everyday objects [NSFW] How a photographer creates “Pyramids in the Sky” using camera rotation and sunset

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: children photography, inspiration, Paul Monaghan, photographing children, Photography, studio photography

About John Aldred

John Aldred is based in Wishaw, Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website or follow him on Facebook and YouTube.

« VSCO opens video editing for public beta
Women’s suit company reverses gender roles in this advertising campaign using naked men as props »

Trending on DIYP

  • Wedding venue catches fire while filming the newlyweds’ first dance
  • The world’s first single shot 8×10 large format digital camera can be yours for a mere $106,000
  • This impossible long take was shot with a tiny drone in a Japanese high school
  • First look at the Pentax K1 Mark II and DFA 50mm f/1.4 lens
  • 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner for photography leaves his job and now works for a brewery

Recent Comments


Previous Polls

Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

John Aldred is based in Wishaw, Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website or follow him on Facebook and YouTube.

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.

JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page

Recent Posts

  • How to create soft light in tiny spaces with a single light source
  • Here’s why you should still work on your idea even if “it’s already been done before”
  • From Drab to Dramatic: How to Make Any Space Photo Worthy [NSFW]
  • Learn Adobe After Effects with this new free course for beginners
  • Learn how to shape light with flags in under ten minutes

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2018 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure