4 Tips for Excellent Family Photos

The best way to treasure and relive happy moments with your family is by photographing all the family members in a photo session. You will treasure these precious moments for years to come through the family photos. Besides, you will find it easy to introduce your family members who are either abroad or away from home to visiting relatives and friends by using the family photos.

So how do you go about planning your family photo sessions? There are many ways in which you can plan and organize family photo sessions. To begin with, you can hire a professional family photo studio. Alternatively, you can get a hold of a professional camera and start clicking away. Either way, you need to be aware of some guidelines to create some amazing family snaps that are frame-worthy.

Get Family Members To Draw Close To Each Other:

First of all, get the family members to draw close together because families that stand close together emit warmth and affection that is visible in a photo. So, get all the family members to huddle up in front of a camera. In spite of the varying physical features and characteristics of individual members, the photo creates the desired effect of a cozy family when they stand close to each other. On the other hand, if members of a family stand apart, maintaining a distance, the resulting image will exude distance and an uneasy relationship among members.

Coordinate Clothing:

You should discuss with your family members about color co-ordination for their clothing prior to the shoot. This will help viewers of the photo to focus attention on the individual family members in a photo. Further, you can choose clothes of different colors, but the colors should complement each other.

In addition, families should avoid clothes with bright colors, prints and logos because this type of clothing distracts attention from the members of the family who are the subject of the family shoot. 

Look Out For Blinking:

In a family photo shoot, the number of people is more. So, it becomes challenging for the photographer to check for blinking. However, if you want a perfect shot, you need to keep a look out for any of the family members’ blinking their eyes. This is very important for a family photo, as families maintain their family photos for decades. Moreover, nobody wants to find they blinking in a family photo, as the photo is preserved and viewed over a period of several years. 

Try Your Hand at Comedy:

If you want a photograph that reflects the genuine happy faces of the different family members, try to crack some jokes. Another way to break the ice and make all family members feel comfortable is by asking them to try a different task like jumping or running. Further, one-liners that instantly connect with people will come in handy here. Finally, you can talk about a unique aspect about the family to bring genuine smiles on their faces.

By following these simple guidelines, you can get a memorable family photograph which you and your family can treasure for several years to come. 

By Saneesh Sukumaran 

Best Posing Ideas For Family Portraits :

When you go to a professional studio to get a family portrait done, the photographer asks you to pose in a particular way to get good shots of your family. Wouldn’t you like to save on the extra expense of going to a professional photo studio by taking family portraits at home? Here are some helpful tips to help you do exactly this.

A family portrait should capture the essence of togetherness and exude warmth of the family members. In order to achieve this, you need to have a perspective of the big picture and make some slight changes to the positions of your family members. This will improve the quality of the photo and give a professional look to the portrait. You can benefit from some of the best posing ideas for family portraits; some of which are outlined below.

Stand At An Angle

First of all, when your family members pose in front of a camera, ensure that they are standing at an angle to the camera. This change in position will make the photo more interesting and appealing to the viewer, rather than the conventional style of family members standing at right angles to the camera.  

On one hand, when people face a camera head on, the resultant photo does not produce a flattering image of the family members. On the other hand, when they pose at angles, all the people in the photograph tend to look slimmer.

Conceal The Hands

When many members of a family are standing together, their hands can prove to be a visual distraction from the actual faces of the family members. Moreover, many family members translate to having more number of hands in the photograph.

Often, people do not know what to do with their hands. Should they fold them, let them stick to the side of their bodies or put them in their pockets. One way to deal with this issue is to conceal the hands from view. To this end, you can ask some people to fold their hands, place them on their laps or tuck the hands in their pockets.

Vary The Postures

Yet another way of making a family portrait interesting is by varying the postures of family members. To achieve this, you can request the elders in the family to sit down and allow kids and adults to stand for the photo session.

You should ensure that the photo has a good balance of all subjects. Therefore, the photo should depict youthfulness of children, wisdom of elderly people and maturity of adults within the same family portrait.

Don't Say Cheese

Majority of people feel uncomfortable posing in front of a camera. Moreover, you tend to aggravate the situation by telling them to get ready for a shot, giving rise to stiff postures and unnatural expressions. In particular, the word “cheese” automatically triggers artificial smiles and expressions in family members during a photo session. This results in some average looking family portraits.

What you can do to avoid this is to initiate a conversation on a neutral topic and keep everyone engaged in your conversation. At this stage, you can take photos randomly, so that the family members are unaware of what you’re doing and you can end up with a great photograph with natural expressions.

These posing ideas for family portraits will help you hold family photo sessions at home with ease, without the need to hire a professional photographer. However, if you are unsure of your abilities, do not hesitate to contact a good professional studio that specializes in family portraits.

By Saneesh Sukumaran