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 🙂
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.

Gave #LaurentL 3 sets of outfits, he chose this, and picked out the shoes to match. Didn’t turn out too bad! ??

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on Jul 3, 2016 at 2:47am PDT

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. I’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-worthy shot.If you can, try to choose something small and best if it matches the theme of the outfit you are taking. So far I’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 😉

It’s #racialharmonyday and #LaurentL is having a celebration in school! Realized we didn’t have any ethnic costume for him to wear so we sent him there in his #hanbok and messy hair ? #oppawannabe

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on Jul 20, 2016 at 8:33pm PDT

3. Take OOTDs at the Same Spot

Having a designated spot for photographing your kid’s OOTD not only keeps the photos looking more consistent, it also helps to get them into “shoot mode” much faster because they know what to expect. When I start to clear things away from our usual “OOTD Spot” 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.

Hi guys, thanks for dropping by! I will be sharing more of #LaurentL’s photos here so click that follow button! ❤️ [190316 – 20mths] #LaurentL

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on Mar 18, 2016 at 7:07pm PDT

4. Take OOTDs Somewhere Fun

This may sound contradictory to the point above but sometimes you’ll want to break the monotony and go to a fun place for photographing your kid’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 ❤️?Blessed sunny Sunday! [020416 – 20mths] #LaurentL

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on Apr 9, 2016 at 7:47pm PDT

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 don’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 Jun 18, 2016 at 3:40am PDT

6. Keep Photos Sharp & Focused

Sharp and focused photos are more appealing and when I’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 Mar 31, 2016 at 5:56pm PDT

7. Use the Right Image Aspect

I usually use my Olympus camera to take Laurent’s OOTD and the default setting for its image aspect is 16:9. Hence, I’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 kid’s OOTD. This will also help you to better frame your shots.

8. Filter or Edit Your Photos

I’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.

9. Shoot First Edit Later

I don’t think you need any reminder but kids really do have pretty short attention span so the cute little toy he’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 kid’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 dosen’t have half-opened eyes and mid-action arms 🙂

10. Keep Them Happy

It’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 kid’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, you’ll naturally be able to get some pretty awesome photos 😉

Ultimately, I’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 🙂

Giving a shoutout to all my pals, “Happy mid-week!!” [030416 – 20mths] #LaurentL @brooklynandfifth #BrooklynBrandRep2016 #BrooklynBE2016 #brandrepsearch

A photo posted by Laurent L. (@laurentl.jr) on Apr 13, 2016 at 5:00am PDT

Do you have more tips on photographing your kid’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