How to create a unique photo series that shows your kids' growth
Amidst a sea of toys, you find yourself on the living room floor, observing your determined two-year-old reach for his sister's puzzles on the shelf. You chuckle and weigh the value of a few more quiet minutes of independent play against the prospect of 120 puzzle pieces that will surely explode all over the room.
A few more minutes, it is. You're browsing through your phone's photo gallery, all nostalgic about the rapid changes from the past two years. You're trying to piece together the story of his growth, but each photo stands alone. It lacks a bigger picture that connects one shot to the other. A nagging feeling persists - you want to chronicle your child's development in a more meaningful way. What if you could creatively encapsulate the changes of his first few years of life?
Learn how to create a captivating visual story of the rapid changes and growth of your little one's first years through creative photography. This guide will show you exactly how to create a unique photo series that show your kids' growth.
Capturing your kids’ growth through consistent elements in your photos
Consistent elements are the secret sauce to photos that show your kids’ growth. It makes the difference between a collection of individual shots and a visual story of your child's developments. Consistency allows you to clearly see the subtle changes in your child throughout the years. It also adds a sense of continuity and cohesion to your family photo album or digital gallery. A well-curated photo series often graces the walls of homes — yours and the grandparents'.
How do you create a photo series to show your kids’ growth?
Photograph at specific time intervals: Set calendar reminders to take photos at specific intervals: monthly, quarterly, or yearly. This consistency will make it easier to see the progression of your child's growth over time.
Use consistent lighting: Aim to photograph at the same time of day to maintain consistent lighting, or use artificial light like a flash kit or studio light.
Replicate similar angle and framing: When the frame stays relatively consistent, the changes in your subject (your kiddo!) become the star of the show. Tripods are your trusted ally here. Take a photo of your shooting setup and angle that resulted in the final shot, so you remember how to replicate it.
Strive for cohesive photo editing: Consistent color and light curves lend cohesion and charm to your photo series.
For the best results, capture your kids' growth by keeping these 4 photographic elements as consistent as possible.
Besides consistent photographic elements, you can infuse more creativity in this photo series of your kids’ growth by adding recurring elements. Consider these 5 categories of recurring elements to frame your child's growth story:
Consistent setting or location
Prop or repeating a theme
Repeating event
Unique composition or photo angle
Consistent outfit or color palette
You need at least one of these categories to tie the individual shots together as a series. Up for a challenge? Combine 2 or 3 elements to make a visually compelling and cohesive narrative of your kid's growth.
For example, the photo series above leverages a repeating event to have a consistent location (summer vacation to the beach), uses consistent composition and framing (running away from the camera, centered in the frame), and even a very similar outfit (only needing one matching clothing piece: another win for the beach!). The photo editing focuses on replicating the color palette across photos and removing other footprints and objects in the sand that would otherwise be distracting. Now the growth over time becomes the star of the show!
Ready to get started? Here are practical tips and creatives ideas for every category, so you can capture your kids' growth through a unique photo series:
Create a family photo series by taking photos in the same location
The most common way to create a photo series that displays changes over the years is by taking a photo in a consistent setting or location. This can be a specific spot in your home, or another location you’re likely to have easy access to over the years, like the grandparents’ home or a park near their school.
Practical tips on how to use a consistent location to show your kids’ growth:
Take the pressure off. "Consistent" does not have to mean "the same". If you've picked a corner of the living room and you move homes, you can still create consistency by having the same furniture in a relatively similar setup.
Either choose a meaningful spot that's most likely to remain unchanged over the years or choose a setting that you can easily recreate.
Evolving settings that change with your child offer another layer of interest to the series. For example, if you're shooting this series in your backyard, can you frame a young tree in the background that will grow over time too?
Settings that give the photo a sense of scale typically work best. Although a white wall is a totally fair choice, adding one element in the background that shows your child's size in relation to another object can make it more interesting. For example, have them sit on the bottom step of the stairs instead.
Ensure the location has good lighting. Expensive flash kits aren't necessary - setups with ample daylight suffice. Photos are light paintings, so if your location of choice is in a windowless basement with overhead TL lights... maybe pick another one?
Use a prop or theme for your child’s growth photo series
Another way to create a photo series of your kids’ growth is to pick a theme or use a specific object for each photo. The options here are limitless, so you can pick a topic or prop that best reflects the unique personalities of your kids or your family’s interests.
Practical tips on how to use a repeated object or theme to show your child's growth:
Select an item that has sentimental value and will remain relevant as your child grows, such as a stuffed animal, a favorite toy, or a family heirloom.
Explore themes that evolve, such as a series spotlighting your child's shifting interests.
Ensure the prop or theme is visible and prominent in each photo, serving as a benchmark to emphasize your child's growth. Placing it in the same location in the frame is key here.
Leverage an event or celebration to creating a photo series to show your kid's growth
What traditions and celebrations are important to your family? Birthdays, summer vacations, religious events, or national holidays — repeating events lend themselves well for photo series that show your kids’ growth. These events often already include a specific theme or repeating elements. Kill two birds with one stone by photographing your kids’ photo series at the same time!
Practical tips on how to use a repeating eevent to show your child's growth:
Write a list of the repeated elements that make this event special. What food items, decorations, outfits, colors, or people are part of this event every time? Include those in the frame to creatively capture your kids’ growth over time. The subtle changes to those repeated elements could even become a series in itself. For example, how about taking a photo of their Christmas jammies in front of the tree, from tiny onesies to teenage sizes?
Review last year's photos before the event kicks off. Pick a few photos that would be easy to replicate. Events are hectic and often unpredictable, so focus on one or two special moments during the event, like blowing out the candles or standing in front of the church just after service. Aim for similar compositions or angles to create a cohesive series.
It does not have to be an annual event! During your child's first two years, changes occur so rapidly that a monthly or quarterly event will clearly showcase their growth.
Create a photo series through a consistent composition or unique photo angle
Less is more as long as there’s intentional design. If you want to create a photo series using posed portraits of your kids, aim to have a unique angle or composition for these shots. This makes the photo series stand out as a cohesive and creative display of their growing faces, bodies, and personalities.
Practical tips on how to use composition and framing to show your child’s growth:
Experiment with different angles that highlight your child's growth, like a bird's-eye view, a low angle looking up, or a close-up of their face or hands.
Maintain the same distance and perspective in each shot to emphasize the changes in your child's appearance and size. It's especially key for this category to use similar lenses and camera settings, which also applies to your phone's camera settings.
Use a tripod or other stabilizing equipment to maintain consistent angle and framing to clearly show your child's development.
Another helpful tool is the Before and After app. It helps you frame a similar shot by giving you a faint outline of your previous shot in the camera interface. This is especially helpful if you’re shooting a head-to-toe shot of your kids.
Think about facial expression, posture, eye line, and framing. The more detailed you can be in the unique composition of each frame, the better the end result. Do you want a photo of your child looking straight into the camera with a full smile, or do you want a waist-up shot where they look to the left?
If you have multiple kids, consider if you want the same framing, angle, and composition for all of them, have the same but unique one for each individual kid, or rotate through compositions for each child.
Pick a consistent outfit or color palette for the photos of your kids
Color is perhaps the most powerful element to tie different visuals together. Use this to your advantage by picking a consistent color for the background or the outfits of your kids. Pick whatever suits your family best: from a classic black-and-white shot against a white wall to rainbow-themed frames. You can also get even more creative by showing your kids’ growth through their outfits.
Practical tips on how to a consistent outfit or colors to show your child’s growth:
Opt for colors that complement your child's complexion and the chosen setting, creating a visually appealing collection.
If you're choosing clothing that represents your child's personality or style, make sure it can be adapted or updated as they grow older.
Keep your outfits relatively simple to make recreating an outfit in a larger size as easy as possible. Blue leggings + white onesie can easily turn into jeans + white tee. That fuchsia tutu that looks adorable on a newborn will be tough to find, and even tougher to convince them to wear it, once you hit those teenage years.
If you're really dedicated to creating a photo series through a consistent outfit, consider purchasing clothing in multiple sizes.
Go beyond clothing; consistent accessories can also work wonders. Hats are a popular choice.
What photo series will you create to show your kids’ growth?
These creative ideas and practical tips can transform your camera roll from disjointed pieces into a well-fitting visual showcase of your child's growth. Each snapshot becomes a piece of the puzzle, coming together to form a priceless keepsake that both you and your child will cherish for years to come.
