You know most of the birthday pictures are same. That is because people tend to pose every time they see a camera what makes unnatural boring pictures. When you are taking pictures in a birthday try to break these cliches.

Actually there is a dilemma for photographers which i wrote about before; if you are not hired for the day to take pictures by a client and if it is a birthday of a friend or a family member it is a hard decision, whether try to take good pictures of enjoy the time with the friends or family. If you say i can do both, than congratulations, please e-mail me and tell how you do it. Of course i’m taking better pictures in birthdays etc. compared to people who are not interested in photography but I certainly cannot enjoy the time and take impressive extra-ordinary pictures in the same time.

Anyway i suggest that you are focusing on taking good pictures so some ideas for better birthday pictures from me;

• Take the pictures when people are not expecting
• Try to capture emotional moments A father hugging his son etc.
• If you have the chance do not use flash. Generally birthday parties are at night or evening so it is hard to find enough light in the room. But if you can lighten the room with a couple of extra lights and provide the needed conditions for taking pictures without flash it will be better. This will make your pictures more warm and sincere. You can also use faster ISOs like 400 or 800 to obtain faster shutter speed.
• When candles of the cake is alight use them as a light source for the face of birthday owner, but you must be quick to find right exposure settings or he/she will blow them out. This will also create warm images with warm temperature (1850K - Kelvin)
• Get close and fill the frame with the subject
• If you are using flash; Avoid Red-Eye; use your camera’s red-eye reduction function. And stay in the flash range.
• You can also print these pictures as gifts to the guests or host.