So I am taking pictures of this 16 month old, under the tree where his dad proposed to his mom, and where his parents were also married. However, the little bugger walked and crawled non-stop. All over the place - I kept lifting and relocating and adjusting my tripod - and my lights - but he was going non-stop and I just gave up hope of being able to use a flash - it was exhausting. these images were taken near the end of the hour, no light..under a shade tree, and I was far away packing up my stuff....he finally was sitting still - and this is the best I can do (even with photoshop.)

Every shoot should be a learning experience especially at your level. First thing you should have learned was to leave the tripod at home when photographing kids. Next one is to make sure you have a clear understanding of what they want and expect from the photo shoot. I can easily see how the second photo might not be what they had hoped for, rather a different style would be better.

Another point is to photograph young children when they are just waking up from a nap so they are more docile and are not moving around as much. Food also helps and slows them down.

As for the two photos they are both fine with good exposures for the scene. I don't see the actual tree in the first so that could be part of it. The second image is not showing the child's face which I'm sure Mom doesn't like, plus it is quite askew and needs to be straightened.

Thanks for the feedback Greg! I am making a return to that shade tree very soon with a different baby and will take your advice! I will make sure the child is fed and is well rested. As for the shade tree - I shot over 200 images and she has several with the tree in view - but it's such a huge tree - in order to capture it the baby would look like a little dot. I think I have one of him facing the tree, but looking over his shoulder at me. I should have posted that one. But I'm to try again this weekend. Gotta keep shooting

Well, based off my own experience with a little kid that was always on the go. It was just better to go with the flow as they say. Took lots of candids. The only way he would sit still is if mom or dad held on to him. I got some really good photos from that also. Sometimes I think candids are far better than posed for young kids, its more natural and they are more comfortable. There were times where he would just run and I tried to capture that. he also liked pushing his own stroller, so I shot that.

So, I say just go with the flow if kids are that mobile. Here are 2 shots I took, comps aint the greatest, but i have enough to learn yet.

Trying to photograph my daughter was a big chore..which also in itself a learning experience. Camera came out, she *almost 3 now* still goes right to the lense to look at her reflection. She is very very active from the minute she wakes up til she goes to sleep. So had to do tricks to get her to sit still. This could also apply to you, does child have any siblings? They can be standing off camera and are a great great great distraction, because some natural mubojumbo can help them slow down to stop and watch what big sister/brother are doing are doing. Parents off camera always seem to have child want to move to them because thats natural, siblings they want to see what they are doing.
You have to be well rested, fed, and ready to be active. they move you move..as Greg said, tripod stays at home will just get in your way/slow you down.
I hate saying this but one of few times I don't mind "spray and pray" if you got the angle you want, you have them somewhat where you want to get your shot, just whip out 6shots at once and hope you got that shot you wanted in one of those frames. I am no pro myself but this is what I do the few shots of kids I have done.

Ha ha! I love "spray and pray!"
No, this child does not have a sibling. When my kids were this age (not that long ago) - I was able to get them to sit still when I needed it - I think I am trying to learn my boundaries with other peoples kids. Someone told me to give the child one object to hold and explore - like a pine cone or flower or toy car, etc. So I need to remember that. I'm anxious to photograph a baby again. But overall - I still sort of liked both of those shots. Not a 10, but not bad enough to refer me to someone elses website

I'll be very frank because I think it will help you very much long term....

1. First photo would had been an immediate throw out by be and unusable. It's not sharp at all. For printing it's unusable from what is desired from a photographer.

Here is what to fix: You shot this at 225mm with shutter speed of 1/100. I would had done an 85 and I bet the photos would had turned out a lot better because you would had had soooo much less camera shake and child blur. If you absolutely must use a 225mm (but that is just wrong for this shot imo) then you have to increase the shutter speed and increase the iso....at least than it wouldn't be a throw out photograph.

2. Second photo the focus is even worse, the photo is crooked, it's overexposed, the photo should be of the child (not of the landscape with a child in it), etc. Again here is wrong lens at 55mm. You probably didn't want to get that close so you compensated by taking more of a landscape picture rather than the child and that's what you got. However, the focus and blur is soooooo bad, you must be shaking a lot. This is not an issue with the child but how you are holding your camera. Watch some youtube videos on how to properly hold your camera: put in your elbows, use your left to support the lens, slide the finger to trigger the shutter, press the viewfinder on your head, feet spread apart.....or if you are having a lot of difficulty with camera shake, maybe invest in IS lens or try to find spots like leaning against a tree or something. You need to practice without a tripod....you won't make it if you can't be without a tripod.

I hope these hints are helpful. I looked at more of your photos and they are blurry. Gotta work on proper holding of the camera and using the right lens.

I have only been photographing for 2 weeks, but I think the advice will help:

look at the eyes:
www.flickr.com/photos/13835309@N00/92740...es/o/in/photostream/

look at the eyes of the photo I took yesterday of my daughter:
www.flickr.com/photos/19193700@N06/94612...es/k/in/photostream/

child moving is no excuse. Look at this picture that I took over the weekend she was moving like crazy flopping her hands around and look at the picture of her eye (the other one is not in focus because I purposely kept that out of the Depth of view). You will get this type of shot when the eyes are not in the same plane:
www.flickr.com/photos/19193700@N06/94423...es/k/in/photostream/

I'm no professional by any means but not a focused image is trash imho. You could always try using a monopod too if that helps...and make sure you are using a single focus point and not recomposing unless absolutely necessary.

also another problem you may be having is when the child moves you are not re-focusing. If your depth of field is shallow, even a slight movement will make a photo go from focused to out of focus. You need to constantly be re-focusing right before the shot not hold it down, wait, then take the picture...although in the 2 pictures above it doesn't look like the child is franticly moving so that's why I believe it is more with camera settings or how it's held over the quick movement of the child.

1) The first picture must have been good enough because she ordered a 16x20 canvas of it. It was the last photo I shot that day - she did order many prints - there was just no time to adjust my camera settings - I was packing my bag and just on a last thought took that shot from very far away...but thank you for your tips.
2) People keep mentioning the "crooked" shot - it was crooked for a reason. And the landscape view for a reason. People in this area do like to have a tilt on certain photos for a certain affect - to each their own I guess. In that shot - it was about both the landscape - the area where the parents were married and a little product of that marriage just sitting under the trees. Thank you for your feedback - I've had enough and don't think I'll be checking in on this thread anymore these were just 2 samples of thousands of photos I've taken over the years - and I already said it was a bad photoshoot....maybe next time I'll post ones that are sharper and better eyes - I have many of those as well - just wanted share these for a reason.....