For "standard" expected shots take lots of photos to make sure you capture the perfect moment. For example, aim to catch the child's cheeks puffed out as the smoke wafts from the candles on the cake. I generally capture around ten images to document one special moment such as the cake being delivered to the table, the little girl sticking her fingers in the icing, waiting to blow out the candles, and then the big moment of making a wish and blowing. This creates a nice photo documentation of the event, but also served to capture the perfect moment.

Young children are so excited on their birthdays. They run around examining everything. Keep your eyes open for unexpected or quiet moments when the child is alone taking everything in and exploring. Capturing action is another great way to capture memories. Have the camera handy for a lively game of duck-duck-goose or tag. When capturing action, I try to become part of it. Kids usually love coming toward me to get their pictures taken. At one party, the kids raced up the steps and zipped down to meet me at the bottom of the McDonald's slide over and over again to have their pictures done.

Encourage children to cluster together for group shots. As with action shots, be prepared to work fast because kids won't sit still for long at a party. Try to choose a nice background and move distracting things out of the foreground. At one party, one of the girls was very upset when we took away her fries. Rather than losing the whole shot, we kept the fries in the picture. Take photos with the whole party and get smaller groups together.

Parties can be created to incorporate picture taking opportunities. Beyond birthday parties, you can hold tea parties, princess parties, and Halloween parties that encourage kids to dress up in cute outfits. Encourage parents to dress up too and take their photos as they arrive. One successful portrait party I hosted was a mother daughter tea. The camera was set on a tripod pointed at a chair near the front door and as soon as people arrived they were seated and photographed.

If you are looking to capture a special portrait related to an event, consider setting up a separate portrait session on a different day when your child is calm. Every year I photograph my daughter in her special party dress the day before her birthday.

Children's Party Photography Tips: - The key with kids action party photographs is to be quick and to shoot a lot of frames. A point and shoot is fine, just make sure your camera is fast enough to take frames in quick succession.

- It is difficult to play host/hostess and photographer at the same time. Ask a friend to help you document your child's birthday. If you can have two people taking pictures that's even better! Capture more activity and more fun!

- As with any photo, if possible, consider your background and make sure it doesn't detract from your main subject. Sometimes at a party it is impossible to remove clutter from your foregrounds and backgrounds. The most important thing is to catch smiles.

- Many children do not know how to smile when prompted. To encourage natural looking smiles, don't say, "Say cheese!" Instead tell the kids to say something silly that will make them laugh such as, "Say mommy has smelly toes!"

- When photographing a group try to make sure everyone can be seen. This is not easy to do with a large group at a party. Take lots of shots to help ensure that each face can be seen in at least one. Consider getting on a chair to stand above the kids. This allows you to see more faces.