How can I take a good picture of my child?

Even though children are considered delightfully photogenic, much the same as pets, parents know the truth: Kids of even the youngest age love to act up and ruin the picture just when your finger presses the shutter.

Follow up:

To overcome this tendency, you need to be either fast (as in candid camera) or strategic. Being strategic means planning for the best shot in terms of lighting, background, angle of view, and mood. For lighting, use shade outdoors or a flash bounced off a nearby wall indoors. Do not use bright sunlight or direct flash, which have a tendency to obliterate the facial features. For a background, pick something simple, and make sure the colors don’t compete with your subject.

Get down to the child’s level, or at least hold the camera down at child height; no one likes a picture of the top of your little one’s head. And don’t fuss with your equipment or the child. Keep things simple, short, and painless, and neither one of you will be irreparably traumatized.