All of the toddler/kid portraits I've done before have been with a backdrop and full studio lighting, following the focal length 'rules' of 85mm for full-length and 135mm for close-up shots.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph lots of children in someone's home and I took a very different approach, using a single hand-held flash and doing nearly every shot at 50mm. This allowed me to move around wherever the kids moved, rather than having to wait until they moved back into the position that the lights were set for. End result: Much more natural, intimate pictures, that hopefully capture each child's personality.

Some of my favourites from the day…

Julie's friends' kids
Shot specs:
Canon 1D  •  17-40 f/4L  •  40mm  •  1/500s  •  ISO 200
Various apertures in the f/5.6 to f/11 range.

(Note: 40mm on a Canon 1D is approx 50mm equivalent.)

Lighting was a 550EX with Lightsphere (which I'm lovng by the way!) triggered by an ST-E2 wireless transmitter until it proved useless outside at which point I switched to Pocket Wizards and stayed with them for the rest of the day. For some shots I hand-held the flash, for others it was on a light stand at 45 degrees off camera axis. One huge advantage of using the 1D/550EX combination is the 1/500s sync speed. With studio strobes you're pretty much stuck at 1/125s and that's not really fast enough for the more active kids.