If you’ve ever attempted to photograph your own children at home, you’ll know it’s an extreme sport. Especially when those children are twin boys (like mine), and your home is more “tiny British ex-council house” than “editorial style English cottage“. But fear not, I’ve been through it all. The sticky fingers on the lens and a thousand blurry shots of Houdini-style escape attempts. So, if you’re wondering how to photograph your own kids without losing your sanity, this guide is packed with child photography ideas at home that are fun, simple, and most importantly realistic.
Why Photographing Your Own Kids is Worth It (Even If They Won’t Sit Still)
Professional photoshoots are wonderful, I’m a professional photographer and understand the incredible value they have. However, there are going to be times when you want to document your kids growing up, when a professional isn’t available, or isn’t a financial option.
Photographing your kids at home means you can capture their real personalities, in their natural habitat, with minimal pressure. Plus, if you mess up, you can always try again tomorrow (or after a cup of tea and a deep breath).
Learning how to photograph your own children means you won’t miss any important memories.
What Is the Best Way to Take Photos of Your Child at Home?
The best way to take photos of your child at home is to use natural light, shoot from their level, and embrace candid moments. Avoid using flash, choose a clutter-free background, and keep the session short to match their attention span. Most importantly, make it fun – play games, use props, do whatever you can to make them laugh.
The great thing about photographing your own kids at home, is that you know exactly what makes them laugh.
Child Photography Ideas at Home (Even if You Have a Tiny House)
Let’s get into the tips…
1. Lighting Ideas for Child Photography At Home
Lighting is everything in photography.
Personally, I believe natural light will be your best friend when photographing children at home. Because it allows you to document the in-between moments without causing too much distraction.
Set up near a big window or an open door. Morning and late afternoon are the best times, as the light is softer and more flattering. If you have no choice but to shoot midday and the sun is really harsh, you can put white sheer fabric in the window to diffuse the light.
If you want to try a more studio look, you can pick up fairly reasonable continuous lights that won’t break the bank.
2. Capture Everyday Moments (Even the Mess!)
I know you want to learn how to take clean images of your kids in a smaller space but sometimes, you have to forget perfect. The best photos are the ones that capture real life. Whether that’s jam-covered faces or dance moves in the living room.
My point is, don’t put off a photo if it isn’t perfect.
Remember that the reason you are taking them is to document your kids growing up. When you look back at your pictures in 20 years time, do you only want to see pictures of your kids against a white background? Probably not. You’re going to want to see the chaos, the house you lived in, the way things looked 20 years ago.
You’re going to want pure nostalgia.
3. Get Down to Their Level
Photographing kids from an adult height often results in weird proportions.
Instead, crouch down to their level as it makes the images more immersive and personal. Plus, it stops them from feeling like they’re being “watched” and turns the camera into part of their world.
It’s okay if you do take some pictures from your height, as you’ll want to also remember how you used to see them from your POV. But the impact of your photograph is going to be so much better at their eye level.
Mum Tip: The first time I tried this, I forgot how tiny our house is. I knocked things over with my arse and got a blurry photo of the floor. Moral of the story? Clear a bit of space first.
4. Use Props
You don’t need to go expensive. You can simply tape a party table cover or a long piece of coloured paper to the wall and use a backdrop (I get these poster rolls from HobbyCraft).
If you have a wall near a window, that doesn’t have furniture along it, this is the best spot. I use a really small wall in my kitchen, next the fridge. Or I’ll use the spot in my living room, next to the stairs, where the Christmas tree normally goes.
In terms of furniture, if you want to hide mess or make it less cluttered, you can put a white sheet over your sofa. This is what I did when my twins were too little to stand in front of a backdrop or a nice clean wall.
Your home is also full of brilliant props that add personality to your photos. Think of things that are personal to your children.
Easy Prop Ideas For Child Photography at Home:
- Fairy lights for a blurry bokeh background.
- Favourite cuddly toy for comfort blanket (these are important to document).
- Washing baskets for hilarious “sailing boat or rollercoaster” adventures
- White bed sheets as a simple, clean background
- Confetti (you’ll definitely need a dustpan and brush for this one). Check out my confetti photo guide for extra tips.
- Bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles.
- Food – think ice-cream (maybe not chocolate though), things with sprinkles, baking cakes etc.
5. Encourage Play (Because “Say Cheese” is Rubbish)
If you ask a child to “smile,” chances are you’ll get a forced smile that looks vaguely like dental pain.
Instead, keep them engaged with activities. Tickle fights, dancing, peekaboo – anything that makes them giggle naturally. Tell them they stink of poo if you have to (works with mine).
My Go-To Trick: We play the “DON’T smile game” where no one is allowed to smile. Works every time. They immediately start giggling at the sheer defiance of it.
If your children are anything like my twins, as soon as they see a camera, they pull the silliest expression they can. Or they even throw the horns because they’re little metal heads. Instead of forcing a pose, let them play. Once they start to relax and get used to the camera and you’ve played some games, you’ll start getting some of the good candid moments.
Ideas to Try:
- Bubble Bath – Their little faces peeking through the foam is always cute and they can make little beards and mohawks with the bubbles.
- Baking– Get them to bake with you and photograph the flour that goes everywhere and the way the crack eggs.
- Pictures with the family pet – Because nothing softens the chaos like a happy child with their dog, cat or rabbit.
- A selection of toys – Have them select a few toys that they love and document playing with them.
- Paddling pool – If you’ve got a garden, even if it’s a small one, grab a cheap padding pool and get them out playing and splashing with water. (If you don’t have a garden, I once filled up a paddling pool with those ball-pit balls and put in the living room. The kids had fun diving off the sofa into the ball-pit).
6. Best Camera Settings for Child Photography
Kids don’t stay still, and that’s fine!
The best camera settings your for child photography ideas at home are:
Shutter Speed: You’ll need a fast shutter speed (1/500 secs or more)
to avoid motion blur because these kids are not sitting still for you!
Aperture: Use a nice wide aperture (I love f/2 for portraits) for lots of light.
ISO: Start with the lowest ISO you can get away with, to avoid digital noise.
The more light you have available, the lower the ISO you can do but adjust if
need be.
Use your camera’s burst mode to take multiple shots at once. You’re far more likely to get a gem if you keep your finger on the shutter through a sequence of movements.
Multiple Kids Hack: One of my twins is always doing something ridiculous, and it’s usually the same twin every single time. Burst mode lets me catch both in action, even if one is dancing Gangnam style. If you’re trying to capture two or more kids at once, burst mode and a fast shutter speed is essential.
7. Don’t Forget the Details
Some of the best shots aren’t even full portraits but little details. Chubby hands gripping a favourite toy, tiny newborn toes poking out from under a blanket, or the way their curly hair. These are the memories that will make you weepy when they’re older.
Please don’t skip out on these moments!
These are also the parts of photography that don’t care about the space you have in your home. You can take close ups, anywhere.
8. How To Edit Your Child Photography Ideas At Home
You don’t need need to go overboard with editing. A little contrast and colour adjustment can transform a photo without making it look overdone.
You just want a polished photo without changing too much about the memory.
Here some ideas for editing your child photography at home:
- Adjust Brightness and Contrast – Enhance natural light and soften harsh shadows.
- Boost Colours – Depending on the shot, you may want to slightly adjust the colour temperature or the saturation.
- Crop for Composition – If needed, remove distractions and reframe for better storytelling.
- Use Presets for Consistency – Many apps and editing software programs offer one-tap presets to create a cohesive look across multiple images. Like these Bright and Airy Indoor Presets.
As they are your own memories, I would highly recommend holding onto the RAW versions for the future. In case you want to revisit and edit them differently.
Editing Tip: If the house is a mess, but the moment is golden, go black and white. It hides all sorts of background clutter (and the dirty laundry pile).
9. Let Them Take Control
Sometimes, kids want to be behind the camera.
Get them behind the lens and let them take their own pictures for a minute. It’s fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) to see the world from their perspective. Just be prepared for a few accidental selfies and some very abstract “carpet art”.
When I’m photographing weddings, a lot of kids come up to me and ask if they can use my camera. I always let them take a couple of pictures because it really warms them up to the camera. They get more comfortable with you being around taking photos. It also works really well with my kids when we’re on days out.
10. Print Your Photos (Before They Get Lost in the Digital Abyss)
If I have to record myself shouting this one and then send it to you personally, I will! Because it’s THAT important.
It’s easy to take thousands of photos and never do anything with them. Please, please, please just print them!
Some consumer printing companies will do an offer of so many free prints a month while you just pay the postage & packaging. These prints aren’t the best, I wouldn’t recommend them to my clients who have paid me money to take their photos. However, if you don’t have the financial means to order professional lab photos just yet, they are better than nothing.
Having physical copies makes those memories even more special and tangible. Printing also ensures that you have physical back up of these images if your hard drive suddenly corrupts.
Actually, just back the images up everywhere. PC, laptop, prints, cloud storage. No photo storage is 100% fail proof, so having your precious memories backed up in several places will be peace of mind.
11 **MOST IMPORTANT TIP** Get in The Photo, Mum or Dad!
For the love of everything that is good in the world – GET IN THE PHOTO!
It’s easy to always be the one behind the camera, but your kids will want to look back and see you in those moments too.
Coming from my own experience, I know that if you’re the photo taker of the family that you’re in hardly any of the photos. I bet the pictures you have with your kids are mostly made up selfies, rather than pictures other people take.
I also bet that the other parent of your kids, has loads of nice photos of themselves with your children because you had the foresight to take them.
Well, I’m here to give it to you straight – you’re the photographer – everyone else is going to forget to take the picture. Please don’t miss out on photos with the kids because no one else is taking them.
Set up a tripod, use a self-timer or a remote shutter. Trust me, you won’t regret it!
And even if you are self conscious and don’t like seeing yourself in photos, just keep the pictures somewhere. Because I promise you, that one day they will mean everything to you.
Child Photography Ideas At Home: Final Thoughts
Child photography at home doesn’t have to be too stressful. With a bit of good lighting, a few clever tricks, and a willingness to embrace absolute chaos, you’ll capture memories that you can hold onto forever. And if all else fails, just keep taking pictures. You never know when you’ll get that perfect shot (even if it takes 500 tries and a few chocolate biscuits as bribery).
Got your own child photography at home ideas? Share your best tips (or funniest photography fails) in the comments below!
