Beauty & Fashion, Laurent, Parenting

10 Tips for Photographing Your Kid’s OOTD

I LOVE dressing Laurent up and I LOVE taking photos of him in his cute little outfits – which is why I set up an Instagram account just to share these photos. I’ve been getting some comments and messages from fellow mamas asking about how I photograph Laurent’s OOTD without him kicking up a fuss, running around and with him actually posing for the shots. I just received another comment today asking about this topic and since I can’t give a comprehensive answer without making my reply comment look like an essay, I thought I’ll write a blog post on it. Here’s 10 tips for photographing your kid’s OOTD like an #InstaMama!

1. Involve Them in Dressing Up

As soon as they master their Yes and No, most kids actually wants to have a say in what they wear. So why not get them involved in the dressing up process and let them have a say in what they will be wearing for their OOTD? I will match a few sets of outfit and let Laurent choose which set he prefers. He gets to choose what shoes to wear to complete the outfit because that’s his favorite part šŸ™‚
Laurent chose this set of outfit to wear to a wedding dinner and picked a pair of boots to complete the look. I thought it turned out pretty well and decided to do a quick OOTD shoot for him which he happily obliged because he really liked what he was wearing.

2. Keep Them Entertained

Kids have really short attention span so it is perfectly normal that they are not going to stand around at the same spot and strike poses until you get the perfect shot. Iā€™ve found that giving them some small items to hold and play with during the shoot helps to keep them entertained and gives you more time to take that Instagram-worthyĀ shot.If you can, try to choose something small and best if it matches the theme of the outfit you are taking. So far Iā€™ve found that his Babiators, little toys and even my Chanel camellia worked well for this purpose. Daddies can be pretty useful in assisting with the entertaining too šŸ˜‰

3. Take OOTDs at the Same Spot

Having a designated spot for photographing your kidā€™s OOTD not only keeps the photos looking more consistent, it also helps to get them into ā€œshoot modeā€ much faster because they know what to expect. When I start to clear things away from our usual ā€œOOTD Spotā€ at home, Laurent seems to get the cue and will readily (when he is in a good mood) move to into position and start posing.

4. Take OOTDs Somewhere Fun

This may sound contradictory to the point above but sometimes youā€™ll want to break the monotony and go to a fun place for photographing your kidā€™s OOTD. This not only keeps the little one happy and entertained, the photos will also turn out pretty interesting if your outfit and props matches the location!

The one who knows the way to my heart ā¤ļø?Blessed sunny Sunday! [020416 – 20mths] #LaurentL

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on

5. Work with Natural Light

Just as how I take my other photos for my Instagram and blog, I love to shoot in natural light. You donā€™t need a studio or a fancy equipment to shoot in natural light and it also gives you shaper photos which requires less post-processing.

Emoting in progress, do not disturb. [180616 – 23mths] #LaurentL

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on

6. Keep Photos Sharp & Focused

Sharp and focused photos are more appealing and when Iā€™m scrolling through a ton of #InstaKids photos, those that are crisp, sharp and well-focused always gets my attention (and Likes). You can take such photos by using a proper camera (or phone with a better camera quality), taking some time to frame and focus your shot, and as mentioned above, shoot in natural light.

Happy Fri-yay!! [30032016 – 20mths] #LaurentL

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on

7. Use the Right Image Aspect

I usually use my Olympus camera to take Laurentā€™s OOTD and the default setting for its image aspect is 16:9. Hence, Iā€™ve had many occasions where my photos get cut off when I try to upload them onto Instagram. If you want to upload your image directly onto Instagram without using apps like Whitagram to give it a white border, try setting the right image aspect in your camera (1×1 for square, 4×5 for portrait) before photographing your kidā€™s OOTD. This will also help you to better frame your shots.

Photographing Kid's OOTD 1

8. Filter or Edit Your Photos

Iā€™m not a big fan of Instagram filters and I like to keep my photos looking natural so I usually just do some simple editing to straighten the photo, increase the exposure and lighten the shadows. I use Lightroom Mobile for my editing since I have Adobe CC subscription but this can be easily done on Instagram or with apps like VSCO and Snapseed.

Photographing Kid's OOTD 1

9. Shoot First Edit Later

I donā€™t think you need any reminder but kids really do have pretty short attention span so the cute little toy heā€™s holding and having daddy act like monkey, clown or speak like Destiny is only going to keep the little one entertained for that long. So the best tip I can give to you on photographing your kidā€™s OOTD is really to shoot-first-edit-later. Really go trigger happy and take LOTS of photos which you can slowly go through and edit later at your own sweet time. I can more than a hundred photos for every OOTD shoot and what you see below are just some shots I downloaded from my camera which dosenā€™t have half-opened eyes and mid-action arms šŸ™‚

Photographing Kid's OOTD 1

10. Keep Them Happy

Itā€™s not fun for mama when you take your time and effort to dress up your little one and when you finally get down to photographing your kidā€™s OOTD, he or she refuses to cooperate and eventually get into a state of meltdown.

It can be really frustrating when that happens but the last thing we want to do is to force the little ones to continue with the shoot and eventually causing them to dislike taking photos in the future. Sometimes they are just going through a phase, sometimes they are just not in the mood that day. Let them be and try again next time. When your kid is in an awesome mood, youā€™ll naturally be able to get some pretty awesome photos šŸ˜‰

Ultimately, Iā€™m not running a fashion magazine. All I want to do is capture Laurent in his adorable moments for me to look back and smile on and for him to keep as memories. Happy memories šŸ™‚

Do you have more tips on photographing your kidā€™s OOTD? Any #InstaKids that you absolutely adore (I know I have a ton!)? Share them with me by commenting below! And don’t forget to show us some love by following Laurent’s Instagram account! <3

25 Comments

  1. Lily

    July 27, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    So cute! All his photos look awesome! Great tips too! definitely won’t want to be forcing your kids for own sake…

  2. Emily

    July 27, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    Great selection of photos there., and attire. I wouldn’t have half the patience you have!

  3. cindyrina

    July 28, 2016 at 11:24 am

    OMG! he totally know what he is doing. Love his style.

  4. Cheryn Tan

    July 28, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    These are good advice!! I always wondered how the parents do it, thanks for the insight

  5. Shini Lola

    July 28, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    OMG~ Your kid are so adorable and cool. He is so lucky to have a stylish mom like you.

  6. Milton Goh

    July 28, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @biorkpink Rayden is also adorable ? And of course the most adorable baby girl to me is baby @maelethsarah ?

  7. Shin May

    July 28, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    Nice guide !! Your baby boy is damn cute !! He got the potential to be the top model future..

  8. Isaac Tan

    July 29, 2016 at 8:50 am

    i think i should start this with my two boys too.. >< good ideas there.

  9. Sharon Lee

    July 29, 2016 at 9:59 am

    He is such a cutie pie!! He know how to pose and smile infront of the camera. Thanks for the tips!

  10. Ivy Kam

    July 29, 2016 at 11:43 am

    He is so adorable, and thanks for the wonderful tips šŸ™‚

  11. Debs G

    July 29, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    Thanks for this! I am going to check out some of the apps you mentioned…but I think my current limiting factor is the lousy camera on my phone.

  12. Shub

    July 29, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    Awesome tips!! I need them to keep my kids in one place for the photo.

  13. Betty

    July 29, 2016 at 7:16 pm

    Oh so cute and such a talented little boy. I like how he pose and his smile is naturally.

  14. SengkangBabies

    July 30, 2016 at 12:02 am

    Wow, is Laurent a model?
    He does looks photogenic and the photos professional (Thumbs Up!)

    cheers, Andy
    (SengkangBabies.com)

  15. Amelie Yap

    July 30, 2016 at 9:38 am

    OH gosh such a cute model. I did follow bundles of kids on instagram who appear in gorgeous photos! I really love all em’

  16. Ling Ling

    July 30, 2016 at 10:27 am

    Wow, Laurent is a natural model! Thanks for your tips.

  17. Absolute Yana

    July 30, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    That’s a model in the making right there! and you are a fantastic photographer…hopefully i get to brush on my skills too… oh and I know a soon to be mommy blogger that would love to read this post..thanks dear for the tips…

  18. Jacqualine

    July 30, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    OMG Laurent is soooo adorable!!! Thanks for sharing some tips, it is forever hard to take my kids’ OOTD omg.

  19. Jamie Chaw

    July 31, 2016 at 8:19 am

    Great tips!!!
    Wait till u get more than 1 kid, will be a whole different adventure with getting both of them to corporate n look at the camera! šŸ˜‰

    great job mummy… I wish I had the patience to dress them up!

    Jamie
    (http://karmie080808.blogspot.sg/)

  20. David Sim

    July 31, 2016 at 2:51 pm

    Hi….thanks for sharing these useful tips!

  21. Jolin @ The Js Arena

    July 31, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    I’m always looking forward to his OOTD.. So handsome! Thanks for the tips!

  22. Ai Sakura

    July 31, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    Good tips and most that I follow too! Can’t wait until our home reno is over and I have a nice OOTD space at home too haha
    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

  23. Nadhirah Tan

    August 1, 2016 at 8:53 am

    How awesome… Looks like so much fun getting your kid to be a model for you

  24. qian

    August 1, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    good tips!! oh boy the kids look so adorable and cute!!!

  25. sayaiday

    August 3, 2016 at 9:18 am

    Followed Laurent on Instagram. So adorable! and I really loves your tips. will share on my facebook page! hehehe

Leave a Reply