Few parents can resist the urge to photograph every adorable stage of their children’s lives, but most parents do it more lovingly than well. No matter how enthusiastic they are, too often the results are blurry, overexposed, and boring snapshots.

Newly revised with an entirely new chapter on the latest trends in digital photography, How to Photograph Children offers practical, detailed, and nonintimidating advice to help transform that enthusiasm into memorable photographs that capture a child’s distinctive spirit (and involve the child in the process). After gently guiding the amateur photographer through such technical basics as which camera, film, and exposure to use, the authors offer specific suggestions about shooting indoors and out as well as invaluable advice (based on their own long experience as successful professional portrait photographers) about working with children at each age. The book includes useful information about how to get the best work out of the photofinisher, even if it’s just your local one-hour mini-lab. Throughout, sidebars offer additional information on everything from film speeds to “smile getters,” and the 200 photographs provide clear examples of what to do — and what not to do — when photographing children of every age and temperament.

Lisa Jane and Rick Staudt are friends and award-winning colleagues in Houston, where they both run professional portrait studios specializing in children. Lisa Jane’s book Enchanted Childhood: The Magical World of Lisa Jane was published by Abbeville in 1999.