DIY tips on clicking your own pictures with kids

Alone at home but see a great photo opportunity with your baby? Then it is time to stop being dependent on someone else to click your pictures with your little one.

There might have been a time when this would have been unthinkable. But today, technology gives us the luxury of achieving that without a lot of effort.

Go through these pointers to know how to be the person behind the camera while being in front of it, and how to get great results too.

1. Almost all digital cameras come with a self-timer. Use that. A timer allows you to delay the “click” by a few seconds, usually two, five or 10 seconds. It prevents the shutter from releasing when you press the button, which gives you time to come back in front to pose for a picture with your child.

2. Invest in a good tripod. You might not find a place to keep your camera while you turn on the timer. A tripod will give you a steady and sturdy base, so that you need not worry about where to place the camera --- even while you are outdoors, in a park for instance.

3. It’s the age of selfies. A new term coined after people started taking their own picture with outstretched arms with a point-and-shoot camera or a mobile, a selfie is a great way of involving yourself in the frame.

4. Want to be present in a picture with your child, while not being in the frame at all? This is where you can put the self timer to another creative use. Set the timer to five seconds (or ten to be on the safer side), and pick your little son/daughter  by hands and spin! The effect would be amazing, the background would look speedy, and everyone would know it’s your hands that are holding the child safe.

5. Self-timers can also be used to put some distance between the camera and the baby, especially if you are dealing with a newborn. A sleeping baby is always a tempting photo opportunity for a mother, so here’s the trick. Place a camera with a good and powerful lens at a reasonable distance from the baby (say outside the door of the room) so that the sound of the click does not wake up the baby, set it to self-time and go back to the sleeping baby. And click!