Here are some great tips and tricks to getting great photos of your toddler.

Today’s guest post comes to us from George Minton from Cameraseals, and he writes on the topic of Getting great photos of your toddler.

As a father of 3 children, now 9 years-old, 7 years-old and 4 years-old respectively, these photography tips are true to form and will work well in capturing the great photos of your toddler. As parents, we tend to want to, or should I say, need to document everything when our first child is born and to a lesser degree when our other children are born, but we still do want to do our best in getting the best moments and memories caught on film (well digital film these days). I have found personally, that they just grow up too darn fast. It still feels like yesterday that my youngest was born.

As an owner of a Nikon D5200 with a wireless adapter to connect it with my iPhone X via a Nikon app which is now replaced by the newer model, the Nikon D5300, I am one of those people who want to get pictures with depth of field using a DSLR camera. The D5200 also captures video. These days, however, with my iPhone X, it also has great depth of field with its dual cameras on the front and back of the phone. I almost use it more than my Nikon D5200 to capture pics of the kids. Well, anyway, I am getting off on a tangent, but the point is that I truly do love great pictures of my kids and pets and love looking back at the moments often and fondly remembering them when they were their youngest.

Here’s a pic I took with my Nikon D60 back in 2010 at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax, Virginia when we lived there back then with my wife and oldest daughter staring out over the water while we were close to the due date for my middle child in the fall of 2010. It still holds up today and it still hangs on the walls of our home. It is absolutely one of my favorite pictures. I hope you think so too.

Here is how good an iPhone X can be these days in comparison to a Nikon DSLR. As you can see the portrait mode is fantastic in that the dual lenses are able to isolate the subject of the image while darkening everything else. The cameras in this phone are fantastic. Here is a picture of my Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Sadie Magnolia on a casual Saturday morning. So, these days, you can take great photos of your toddler even without a DSLR camera like those I mentioned above.

It’s true the moment itself can often be frustrating getting your little one to sit still, to look at the camera and to smile for goodness sake, but it is our hope here at Windy Pinwheel that you find these tips worth their weight in gold in getting these very things to happen with your toddler.

Thank you for the great guest post article, George.

Enjoy.
– Will

Toddlers are the most active, and fun, subjects in photography. But because of their hyperactive energy, photographing them can be challenging.

Thankfully, there are tricks available that you can use to get great photos of your toddler. If you don’t know it, here are some tricks to start with.

6 Tricks on how to get great photos of your toddler:

1. Go for the action shots

Children usually learn how to run at the age of 18 to 24 months. So, if you’re photographing children with that age, keeping them stand still will be a challenge.

The best way to deal with this is to let them play while you do actions shots. Action shooting is a good technique because it captures the current stage of your child’s life – their emotions and the movements they can do.

It may be exhausting because you have to keep up with your child’s energy level. But the result is undeniable good.

2. Give them something to look at

Did you know that there are toddlers who don’t want to look at the camera?

The common tricks parents do is either beg or bribe them. Begging doesn’t work all the time compared to bribing. But if both don’t work, you can still get their attention by giving them something to look at.

A toy like a PEZ dispenser is always the best option because they simply love it. You can place it on top of your camera, and tell them that they can have it or it will produce candy if they look at it.

3. Let them see themselves inside the camera

If a toddler doesn’t want to participate in picture-taking, one of the best ways to deal with it is by involving them in the process.

First, take a picture of your child while playing. Once you took a couple of pictures, sit beside your child and showed the result. The key in here is to intrigue your child on how you did it.

Show your child how it’s done, and once you see that she/he’s amazed and excited, that’s the time you ask if you could take a picture of her/him. If your child says yes, grab your chance! But if not, just take a little more convincing and you’ll surely get your child to pose or even look at the camera.

4. Get them distracted

Not all tricks in getting your child to pose in front of the camera involve begging or bribing. There are some ways that you can take it without them knowing. But still, get the result you wanted. This is by distracting them.

One of the effective ways to distract them is by keeping them talking. Some said that if a child is talking, their mind will focus on that and will never notice if you took out a camera.

But be fast because they can snap out of that distraction easy.

5. Focus on the eyes

Another technique used to get great photos of your toddler is focusing on their eyes. This is because the eyes of a child are charming and give a lot of emotion.

To make it sharp all the time, you should learn how to use the focus point of your camera manually. With this, you’ll have the full control in deciding where and when to focus.

6. Find good light

If you’re doing photography, you probably heard this all the time – find good light. Since children can’t be exposed to artificial light for too long, it’s better to learn how to use natural light.

If you’re doing the photo shoot at home, you can always do it in the middle of the day where plenty of lights are available. But if you have certain effects that you wanted to achieve, you can place your child on different part of the house where light can pass through freely, like windows or doors.

Knowing the techniques is one thing and using the appropriate equipment is another story. If you want to know more about how to choose a good point and shoot camera (under $500), you should read this review on Cameraseals from David.

So, have you used any of these tricks and tips before? How did they work out for you? We’d love to know. Please share with a comment below. We hope you enjoyed readhing these 6 tips and tricks on how to get great photos of your toddler.

About the Guest Post Author

Hi, I’m George. I have been a camera enthusiast since 2008. Cameraseals is my personal blog where I share most of my interests and experiences from using cameras. You will find helpful topics even if you’re a beginner or long-time user.

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What is your baby’s nutrition worth to you?

Today’s guest post comes to us from Emma Claire at CookNovel who writes about baby food recipes so that you can make your baby food right at home.

When our children were little (today, at the time of this post they are 8, 6 and 3 respectively), we used the BEABA Babycook steam cooker/blender to make our baby food. We put the food in ice cube trays and put them in the freezer and pulled them out when we needed them.

Making food for our children without preservatives and all of the extras of store-bought food off of the shelf helped us feel good about what our children ate while growing at such critical stages in their brain development. Even to this day, we only buy Horizon brand organic milk with DHA labeled on the container.

The nutrition our children receive is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. We hope you can use some of these recipes for your own little ones. Thanks for the great article, Emma.

Enjoy.
– Will

5 Delicious wholesome homemade baby food recipes for your baby

When it comes to your baby, there’s no such thing as “trying too hard”, particularly when it comes to their food.

Cooking your baby’s food at home might take some extra time, which can be a problem for busy parents but there are several good reasons why you should consider homemade and wholesome baby food.

1. Since you’re the one that makes the food, you’ll know exactly what your baby is eating, down to the last ingredient. No preservatives, no colorants, no extra sugar. Just want you chose to eat.
2. It can be more affordable. This is not always the case but high-quality, organic, pre-packaged baby food tends to be pretty expensive. Luckily, making your own baby food can help you cut on the costs.
3. You can personalize your baby’s food based on what they like. This can help you gradually introduce new things in their diets, take out the foods they don’t like and eliminate any allergy risks.
4. You can share your food with your baby by making their food with similar ingredients as the one you used for your family’s dinner, saving time and money!

Now that you know why making your baby’s food at home is so convenient, it’s time to look at some of the most wholesome baby food recipes out there so you can make sure you’re giving your baby nothing but the best!

Delicious apple, oatmeal and pumpkin baby food

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Ingredients:

½ cup of unsweetened apple sauce.
½ cup of pumpkin, pureed.
1 ½ cup of cooked rolled oats. (Unsweetened)

Cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg to taste. (Remember not to use too much as to not to overwhelm your baby’s palate)

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Instructions:

Step 1: Mix the unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin and the cooked oatmeal together.
Step 2: Gradually add the cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger and taste it. Add more spices if necessary.
Step 3: Stir everything until perfectly mixed and blend if necessary.

This recipe is fantastic for babies aged 6-8 months.

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Creamed peas and nuggets

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Ingredients:

4 cups of peas, preferably fresh.
1 cup of whole milk
2 tbsp. of flour
2 tbsp. of butter
Chicken

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Instructions:

Step 1: In a sauce pan, mix the flour with melted butter. Cook no longer than a minute.
Step 2: Add the milk and mix as you do it to prevent any lumps.
Step 3: Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add other spices if you feel it’s appropriate.
Step 4: Cook while stirring until the mix starts to thicken.
Step 5: Add the peas and cook them for about five minutes or until they’re heated through.
Step 6: Add chicken

Since this recipe has dairy consult with your pediatrician before introducing it to your baby’s diet.

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Squash and rice puree

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Ingredients:

1 cup of mashed butternut squash
½ cup of fresh water
¼ cup of rice of your choosing.
Yogurt (optional)

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Instructions:

Step 1: Using a blender or a food processor mix your mashed squash and the water. Slowly integrate the rice until perfectly blended.
Step 2: If your baby doesn’t like the consistency add more water to thin it or, if your baby can eat dairy, add yogurt to thicken it.

This recipe is perfect for babies 8 months old or more!

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Banana Avocado Baby Food

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Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana

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Instructions:

Step 1: Peel and de-pit your avocado
Step 2: Remove the avocado meat and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 3: Peel your banana and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 4: Blend everything together in a food processor or a blender until you reach the desired consistency.

This recipe is perfect for babies between 6 – 4 months and it doesn’t need to be cooked so you can make it in a pinch.

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Sweet potato soup

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Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of sweet potatoes, cooked.
1 tbsp. of flour
1 tbsp. of butter
1 ½ cups of chicken broth
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup of whole milk

You can use cinnamon instead or nutmeg or, if you prefer it, you can also use 1/8 of nutmeg and 1/8 of ginger for extra flavor.

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Instructions:

Step 1: Melt the butter and mix it with the flour in a saucepan. Mix until it acquires a caramel-like color.
Step 2: Slowly add the broth while mixing the entire way to prevent any lumps. Keep the soup simmering and slowly stir in the potatoes and whatever spices you chose.
Step 3: Cook for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Mix using a food processor or a blender (Top 5 best personal blenders for smoothies). Add the milk when you serve the baby food.

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Storing homemade baby food

If there’s a downside to homemade baby food is the fact that it doesn’t keep as long as pre-packed food.

There are two ways you can store baby food, in the freezer or the fridge.

Fridge

You can store your homemade baby food in the fridge for up to 48 hours, as long as you keep it in an airtight container.

Freezer

You can also freeze your baby food so it lasts from 1-3 months.

The best way of doing this is not adding liquids (such as milk or broth) to the food until it’s time to eat it:

• Puree the base of your baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays.
• Take out only the baby food cubes you’ll need. (1 cube is optimal for young babies)
• Thaw the pureed baby food and integrate the liquids
• Reheat and serve

What do you think of these recipes?

Do you know any others that you think need to be included in this list? Do you have any doubts? Questions? Suggestions? Want to let us know if your baby liked the food? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to share with your friends and family if you found this article useful.

Thanks for reading!

About the Guest Post Author

I’m Emma, founder of CookNovel blog, and I’m absolutely in love with food blogs. I’d like to share the interesting recipes, food tips and top lists of kitchen gadgets. I’m a foodie at heart but being the mother of 3 kids, it’s not always easy to keep up with fancy dinners… so I rely on the support of other blogging moms like me to help along the way.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

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