The most difficult part of taking family photos is assisting with posing and direction, particularly when working with children. It may take time, practice and a whole lot of patience to ensure your family photos look natural!<\/p>\n
Pre-planning is key for family photos. If you have a solid idea of your location, which shots you need and a few options for poses, there\u2019s no reason your shoot needs to take more than a couple of hours.<\/p>\n
Our tips:<\/em><\/p>\n Before the photo shoot, give direction on what your family members should wear. Ideally, you want your family to be wearing similar colours, or have some kind of cohesion in their outfits. It\u2019s going to look very strange if someone is wearing a very casual ripped denim jacket and another family member is wearing a formal dress or suit. Remember, there\u2019s a fine line between coordinating and being too matchy-matchy. A family taking a family photo should have similar outfits but not wear exactly the same thing! Avoid too many patterns or loud prints, especially in adults. Ask your family to wear layers; that way they can remove any outer layers which may not work in the shot. It also means they won\u2019t get too hot or cold on location.<\/p>\n Match your location to their outfits, or vice versa. If you\u2019re shooting in a park, your family may want more casual clothes, whereas if you\u2019re shooting at a house or a more formal location, your family could be wearing something a little more formal, like jeans with a blazer or sports jacket.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/em> Above all else, ask that the family wears clothes that are clean, pressed and without rips. These factors can easily become distracting in the shot.<\/p>\n Try to make the family feel at ease, so much so that they forget that you\u2019re taking photos of them at all. It\u2019s easy enough if you\u2019re shooting your own family or someone you know. But if you\u2019re not a professional family photographer and you\u2019re shooting a group you don\u2019t know; it might not be so easy. You want the family to trust you and feel that they can talk to you, and you need to establish all this fairly quickly! To help the family feel at ease, talk to the adults about light topics, and smile at the children and try to keep them entertained. Ensure that you communicate with them that it\u2019s fine if they need to stop at any time, and ask them if there\u2019s anything they want to try.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/em> When taking group photos, ensure you take multiple photos of the same scene. The last thing you want to happen is to finish the photo shoot and discover that you only have one image of a scene but someone has their eyes closed. It\u2019s difficult to coordinate everyone in the shot so that this doesn\u2019t happen, so keep this in mind. Take several photos in several different poses and locations. It\u2019s better to have more options than less. <\/strong><\/p>\n When directing for poses, ideally you should have a number of poses in mind that you\u2019d like your family to use. When telling your family how to pose, try being as clear as possible. Instead of using directions like left and right, try to use objects to direct. For example, you might say \u201cturn towards the tree,\u201d or \u201clook towards your partner\u201d. Using directions like left and right can get confusing, as your subject doesn\u2019t know whether or not you\u2019re talking about your right or their right.<\/p>\n The key is giving constant direction. The moment you stop giving directions, your family will start looking uncomfortable and awkward, and this will really show in the shots.<\/p>\n Give your family things to do to be active in the shoot, like running, walking, playing or talking with each other, in order for you to take candid shots. Often these shots can look much more natural than posed shots. During posed shots, family members may become uncomfortable and therefore you\u2019ll find it difficult to take the shot.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/em> In your photo shoot, alternate more posed shots with candid sequences so your family doesn\u2019t become too stiff and uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Ensure you don\u2019t take your photos so that your family is looking directly into the sun. Contrary to popular belief, this can result in ugly shadows being cast in the front of the face and down the nose and chin. Your subjects will also be squinting and this can become very uncomfortable very quickly and it will be difficult to get a shot of the family with their eyes open. Instead, get them to turn around and shoot the opposite way.<\/p>\n Look for areas that offer some shade, like under trees, or on a porch. Always aim to shoot in the \u201cgolden hours\u201d in the morning or evenings but if that isn\u2019t possible definitely avoid shooting around noon as the light will be too harsh and will cause harsh shadows.<\/p>\n There are so many different ways to shoot a family but we\u2019ve compiled our best suggestions here:<\/p>\n When working with children, you need to be flexible and aware of things like meal times or if they\u2019ve just eaten. If you\u2019re working with babies or toddlers, ask the parents what they are like and how long they\u2019re likely to stay awake or stay happy for. For some babies, you may only have a very short time frame to get your shot before they get cranky or need a nap. Ensure the parent has snacks or toys to distract and entertain. Before the shoot, suggest that the baby has a change of clothes just in case they drool or become sick on their clothes, as babies often do.<\/p>\n If you have a few shots to take, ensure you\u2019re clear on your plan with the parents before you begin. For instance, if you were planning on doing couples shots of the parents as well you may want to try doing this before or after. <\/strong><\/p>\n Tip<\/em>: Keep an open mind about your results when working with children. You may be set on getting a certain shot but it just doesn\u2019t work on the day. Or during the shoot, you may discover better angles or shoot ideas. You need to be constantly flexible and adapting to what the shoot has to offer. Try changing to a faster shutter speed. Children often move quickly and unpredictably, so you\u2019ll need to be shooting equally fast to capture their movements.<\/p>\n When it comes to editing family photos, try to keep things as natural as possible. Start with cropping and doing basic colour corrections and other classic editing styles.<\/p>\n The key is for your family photo to remain timeless and not have trendy edits that are popular right now.<\/p>\n Once you have a collection of beautiful family photos, most families will want prints. At Canvas Factory, we have a large variety of print options for your family photos. Some ideas are:<\/p>\n\n
![\"girl](\"https:\/\/www.canvasfactory.co.nz\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/adorable-animal-attractive-1462634.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFamily photo outfits<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nDirecting your photo shoot<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPosing for family photos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nUsing light<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFamily photo ideas<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPhotographing children<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nEditing family photos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What to do with your family photos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n