Family Photography Tips: Holidays and family get-togethers present perfect opportunities for family portraits. However, as soon as you get out the camera, people groan and run for the door to escape. Have no fear! Getting a great picture of your family doesn’t have to be a painful experience, especially if you put a few simple photo tips to use.
Posing Techniques When Photographing Your Family
The best technique is to position everyone so that their heads are close together. This usually does wonders to make everyone look extra friendly and happy.
There’s something else to think about when planning for a family picture like this. What should your family wear? Make sure everyone follows one simple guideline: Wear bright solid colors. Stripes, sports logos, polka dots, and plaids act as distractions, pulling the viewer’s eye away from your subject.
For a Great Family Picture, Keep Things Simple
It’s best if you put all your creative efforts into photographing one main subject. You can take plenty of additional photos, so don’t worry about including everybody and everything in one picture. If you put too much stuff in your photo, it will look messy. It works best if you keep things simple, including just your subject and being careful to not include a bunch of other things in the picture.
What if you’re shooting several family members together? That’s OK. Since they’re posing together, they in essence become one subject. The subject of that photo is really the relationship between the various family members.
And Lastly… The Early Bird Get’s The Worm
Try to take your family portrait at a time of day that produces the nicest light – like early in the morning when the sun is just rising (if you can get everybody up that early!).
No worries, though, if you have a bunch of sleepy-heads on your hands… the light can also be beautiful late in the afternoon, when the sun is just about to set.
If neither early morning or late afternoon work for your family, look for bright open shade or the light just inside a doorway or window.