Motor drives not only for shooting sports

I've said this in the past but it bears repeating. Setting your camera to its fastest, automatic setting in order to capture a short burst of pictures is frequently a good idea. I used the term motor drive in the title for this post but any fast firing, automatic setting is often better than simply squeezing off individual pictures.

Babies don't move a lot. They stay put -- unless they fall over. That said, babies do stuff and they do it quickly and often for just a moment. If your point and shoot suffers from even a little shutter-lag, you may well miss the moment.

My old Canon S90 can take quick bursts of pictures. I time my bursts with the anticipated action but there is still some luck involved. That said, if I tried capturing the baby's smile without using the series-taking approach, it would be a lot of bad luck that would be involved.

• To create catchlights in eyes, face the baby towards a window. 
• Try and shoot from the same level as the child. Don't shoot down.
• Soft light is better than harsh, strong, directional light.
• Try not to use very wide angle lens. Zoom out a little. 
• Keep a little distance between you and the baby.