Pictures/Video's not taking enough - need advice

jcath

I'm a terrible photographer and not so much b/c my pictures are bad but mainly I fail to ever take a picture. My poor teenagers have nothing past about the age of 3 and I seem to be repeating this with the twins.

We just have a point and shoot digital that takes video but I find it hard to shoot the video with the camera.  DH has an iphone but my phone's camera is awful and I have no memory.

I also think it's so hard to get photos of both the girls at the same time (not that I don't want individual pictures)  We did do professional newborn photos but I can't afford professional photos too frequently. I meant to video tape them as newborns when they were sleeping and would make faces and I never did and now they don't do that anymore - it makes me so sad I missed it.

Any tips or secrets that make things easier - do you just take a million shots hoping that one will work out? Do you get them dressed and take planned photos or just shoot whenever?

candasmom

I tend to get the best posed pictures when I have my mom or husband around to help. My helper tries to get them to smile and look at the camera while I shoot away. I tend to take 200-300 pictures each time in hopes of getting a few cute ones. Sometimes I get a lot of cute pictures, other times I only get 2 or 3, depending on their mood!

For candids, I just try to keep the camera and video camera in the family room. That way if they're doing something cute I have everything right there to quickly snap a few pictures or take a video. I also try to pre-emptively charge the batteries once a week or so. 

cookiemonster03

I keep our camera (which has a video feature - not great but something) in the living room all the time and I try to bring it with me when i go out. We do a lot of candids. I've only had one or two weeks when I've had under a dozen photos of them. We've done a mini-photo shoot at home before, but we kind of stink at it. We just used a groupon for pics at JCP this past weekend and will try to do something similar every few months.

cocojack10

I took a lot more photos when boys weren't mobile yet.  I found it easier.  I did set up my own improptu photo shoots and would set up the house accordingly.  I'd always take photos of them together, and then individually.  I would take TONS of photos hoping for one good one.  LOL  As for video, we bought one just for the boys, but we don't use so much.  Easier to grab an iPhone but quality isn't the same.

Now that the boys are mobile, it is so hard for them to look at camera, let alone both at same time! 

flutepharm87

95% of the pictures/video I have of the boys is from my iPhone. Honestly, if you're feeling as if you don't have enough photos of the girls, my advice would be to invest in something you'll use. If you always have your phone on you, you always have something there to snap a quick pic or video with. The quality really isn't bad for a phone, I have no issues with it. I'm not saying to go out and buy an iPhone, but really any phone with a decent camera on it.

I find that the best pictures I get of the boys are on the fly, but if I'm trying to capture something specific, I have some success with putting them in a situation where there's a decent chance they'll act how I want. Or if I know something cute might happen, I bring my phone with me. Like for their first bath together in the big boy tub. I knew it'd be cute, so I just made sure to grab my phone to capture it. And they're cute at meal times, so I always have my phone handy in case they're being especially cute.

For posed shots, I tend to use my camera since it's a higher resolution (12 megapixels). I'll set up my props ahead of time while the boys are napping, get them prepped when they wake up, and immediately start trying to get a cute shot. I'll probably take about 50-60 pictures to get 1 good one. And they really only tolerate about 20 minutes of picture taking before they melt down.