It might be the redheaded stepchild of photography, the gum under your shoe, the backwash left in the glass when you think you’re drinking champagne, but posing is one of the most important parts of any photograph. I am not a traditional poser, so I’m not going to get into thumbs in or out of pockets, or serious or smiley, Continue Reading
The post Mastering Family Portrait Part III: Posing Guide appeared first on Photodoto.
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You don’t have to fret over getting your youngins to say cheese for this year’s family portrait.
Why? Because family photo shoots turn into playtime once a drone is involved!
We’ve thought of 8 entertaining ways to not only make the most of your drone’s high-flying perspective, but to also keep your photogenic family having a blast from beginning to end.
So gather the fam and get ready for some up-up-and-away fun!
8 Amazing Family-Friendly Drone-tography ideas!
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Read the rest of Use Photo Drones for Fun Family Portraits (1,094 words)
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So you had your pre-shoot consultation, and you’re ready to go. You get to your location, and the family are all there on time, in happy moods, excited to shoot, and looking great. Except for that toddler who just wouldn’t go down for his nap. (Note: NEVER shoot a toddler during his naptime…EVER!!!) Or that grandfather who doesn’t want to Continue Reading
The post Mastering Family Portrait Part II: How to Deal with Clients appeared first on Photodoto.
One thing that I shoot my fair share of is family pictures. I love the family dynamic so much… the “over primpers”, the “get me out of here’s”, the “I’ll be in the picture, but I’m going to ruin every single shot”, the “smile or I’ll beat the snot out of you later’s” and the “gee, we’ve known that we Continue Reading
The post Mastering Family Photography: What You Need to Get Started appeared first on Photodoto.
Polish photographer Sebastian Luczywo takes an unusual approach to family photos. His clever and mood-filled photos depict his wife, their two children and family pets in the countryside, often with a touch of the surreal. The resulting images are anything but your standard family portraits. Take a look at his work. See gallery
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
While most photos of children and family put forth a cleaned up and polished look, Alain Laboile takes another approach. He photographs his six children in their natural state – which is often pretty messy – as they play and explore in their Bordeaux, France home. The results are delightfully honest and candid images of good old dirt-between-your-toes fun. See gallery
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The way your son wraps his little arms around your leg to hug you. The way your daughter leaves little notes for you around the house. How it feels to snuggle, dance, and play. His crooked smile. Her knobby knees. Eyelashes. Elbows. Ankles sticking out from socks.
As parents, these are the little moments that we live for, the ones that make our hearts swell, the ones that reflect the spirit of the people we hold most dear.
And yet, as photographers, these are the very moments that we tend to gloss over in their familiarity.
We’re drawn to that moment that makes us feel something. It’s often what leads us to pursue photography in the first place. Reminding ourselves why we love this art form so much, how it connects us to the world around us and brings our experiences to life, places it into a larger context.
Enter the family photo essay!
The family photo essay puts your technical know-how to work in service of telling an emotional and meaningful story.
You see articles on family life in parenting magazines, but in them everything and everyone looks so perfect and polished. And yet, you know that real life looks nothing like that. Your kids go to school with un-brushed hair, mismatched socks, and cream cheese on their faces. Your floors need sweeping, your dishes need washing, and your laundry needs folding.
And that’s ok. That’s real. That’s true. That’s you. You don’t need to vacuum the carpet in order to find beauty in your everyday life. In many ways, the most important story is the perfectly imperfect one you live every day.
Turning your lens toward home to create a photo essay of your family allows you to capture not only what you look like, but also what it feels like to be you, belonging to your family, at this moment in time. And in this way, you can literally show your loved ones just how much they mean to you.
There are three stages to creating an effective photo essay: photography, selection, and structure. Here’s what to focus on in each stage of the process.
This is the time to ignore the old saw about “picture takers” and “picture makers” and give yourself permission to shoot A LOT. Yes, be intentional, be careful, be thoughtful. But also let yourself experiment. Let yourself play. Take a different angle than you do in your other styles of work.
Create a diverse body of work from which to draw: close ups, details, wide angle. The more variety in your images, the more complete your story will be.
Life moves quickly. Life is messy. Kids don’t sit still. It’s ok to let go of the pressure to create the “perfect” shot in the service of capturing real life. What to look for:
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.” ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
As you move through your day with your family, pay close attention to your rituals and routines, the things you do every day with each other. Take a step back from habit and mine these moments for your story. When people are actively engaged in something that matters to them their essence shines through.
The messes, the tears, the comforts and the struggles—these are the things that make our real lives so beautiful. These are the moments that matter. These are the moments that we look back on and wonder, “Where did the time go?”.
Let yourself slow down. Pay attention. When the moment arises, keep shooting all the way through it. Your attention is an act of love, and as you let the love well up inside you, you’ll find that the moment becomes clear.
Shape is often the thing that helps bring the moment into focus in a beautiful way. Often, when discussing photography the discussion centers around the general term “composition”, but when I think about it as “shape,” it helps me really see what I’m looking for.
That moment when her head tilts ever so slightly. The moment when he jumps in the air and his feet lift off the ground.
Shape and moment are almost inextricably intertwined. Shape is what gives the moment form, interest, impact.
As you look through the viewfinder, look for shapes between people, shapes between kids and their environment, the shape of their body as they lay on the floor reading. Diagonals, s-curves, c-curves, triangles–shape is what gives an image it’s life.
“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kinda the point?” ~ Pam, from the final episode of The Office
One of the struggles of documentary photography is how to get your subject to stand out from all the other stuff around you. Remember that the camera is only a tool; it can only see what you tell it to see.
As you compose your image, look for simplicity and harmony between subject and environment. Can you frame your images in such a way that the background and surroundings add to the story you’re telling? Don’t be afraid to move your feet.
Notice how the environment also impacts the meaning of your image. Your home, even on its messiest days, holds so much love. The way your kids interact with their surroundings says so much about who they are as people (not to mention gives you a reminder of just how big, or small, they are at this moment in time).
As the photographer, you get to choose what to focus on. You get to show us what’s important to you. You get to show us how you see the world, your unique view on your unique life.
NOTE: For those of you whose kids are old enough, I highly recommend getting them involved in this project. Get them access to a camera and let them show you what they see. And that way, images of you will be included in the essay as well.
After you finish gathering your images, sift through them and see what stands out to you. What do you notice? Are there moments that feel like they “sing”? Moments, themes, or attitudes that recur throughout your collection? You’ll begin to see what matters, what you value.
Look for patterns and through lines in your images. Look for moments that take your breath away or that “just feel right.” The images to include in your essay are the images that tell a story, reveal a truth, capture an essence, or evoke an emotion. Who is this person? What is their essence? What matters to them?
For each image you select ask yourself why it’s important. What story does it tell? And then ask again, why is that story important? You may also enjoy writing these stories down and adding them to your final product.
Once you’ve created and selected your images, it’s time to give them structure. There are several ways to go about this depending on the story you’re trying to tell:
How you choose to structure your images may change from project to project, but the most important thing is to make a tangible copy. Print it, bind it, collage it, but make it a living document you share with your family and not just something that sits on your hard drive.
A family photo essay will grow to be a cherished part of your family’s legacy, giving your children a sense of belonging. Your story does indeed matter. It’s time to reclaim the art of the family snapshot.
Please share any other tips or comments you have below, as well as your family photo essay images. Have you done a project like this? Tell us about it.
The post How to Create a Family Photo Essay by Miki DeVivo appeared first on Digital Photography School.
The way your son wraps his little arms around your leg to hug you. The way your daughter leaves little notes for you around the house. How it feels to snuggle, dance, and play. His crooked smile. Her knobby knees. Eyelashes. Elbows. Ankles sticking out from socks.
As parents, these are the little moments that we live for, the ones that make our hearts swell, the ones that reflect the spirit of the people we hold most dear.
And yet, as photographers, these are the very moments that we tend to gloss over in their familiarity.
We’re drawn to that moment that makes us feel something. It’s often what leads us to pursue photography in the first place. Reminding ourselves why we love this art form so much, how it connects us to the world around us and brings our experiences to life, places it into a larger context.
Enter the family photo essay!
The family photo essay puts your technical know-how to work in service of telling an emotional and meaningful story.
You see articles on family life in parenting magazines, but in them everything and everyone looks so perfect and polished. And yet, you know that real life looks nothing like that. Your kids go to school with un-brushed hair, mismatched socks, and cream cheese on their faces. Your floors need sweeping, your dishes need washing, and your laundry needs folding.
And that’s ok. That’s real. That’s true. That’s you. You don’t need to vacuum the carpet in order to find beauty in your everyday life. In many ways, the most important story is the perfectly imperfect one you live every day.
Turning your lens toward home to create a photo essay of your family allows you to capture not only what you look like, but also what it feels like to be you, belonging to your family, at this moment in time. And in this way, you can literally show your loved ones just how much they mean to you.
There are three stages to creating an effective photo essay: photography, selection, and structure. Here’s what to focus on in each stage of the process.
This is the time to ignore the old saw about “picture takers” and “picture makers” and give yourself permission to shoot A LOT. Yes, be intentional, be careful, be thoughtful. But also let yourself experiment. Let yourself play. Take a different angle than you do in your other styles of work.
Create a diverse body of work from which to draw: close ups, details, wide angle. The more variety in your images, the more complete your story will be.
Life moves quickly. Life is messy. Kids don’t sit still. It’s ok to let go of the pressure to create the “perfect” shot in the service of capturing real life. What to look for:
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.” ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
As you move through your day with your family, pay close attention to your rituals and routines, the things you do every day with each other. Take a step back from habit and mine these moments for your story. When people are actively engaged in something that matters to them their essence shines through.
The messes, the tears, the comforts and the struggles—these are the things that make our real lives so beautiful. These are the moments that matter. These are the moments that we look back on and wonder, “Where did the time go?”.
Let yourself slow down. Pay attention. When the moment arises, keep shooting all the way through it. Your attention is an act of love, and as you let the love well up inside you, you’ll find that the moment becomes clear.
Shape is often the thing that helps bring the moment into focus in a beautiful way. Often, when discussing photography the discussion centers around the general term “composition”, but when I think about it as “shape,” it helps me really see what I’m looking for.
That moment when her head tilts ever so slightly. The moment when he jumps in the air and his feet lift off the ground.
Shape and moment are almost inextricably intertwined. Shape is what gives the moment form, interest, impact.
As you look through the viewfinder, look for shapes between people, shapes between kids and their environment, the shape of their body as they lay on the floor reading. Diagonals, s-curves, c-curves, triangles–shape is what gives an image it’s life.
“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kinda the point?” ~ Pam, from the final episode of The Office
One of the struggles of documentary photography is how to get your subject to stand out from all the other stuff around you. Remember that the camera is only a tool; it can only see what you tell it to see.
As you compose your image, look for simplicity and harmony between subject and environment. Can you frame your images in such a way that the background and surroundings add to the story you’re telling? Don’t be afraid to move your feet.
Notice how the environment also impacts the meaning of your image. Your home, even on its messiest days, holds so much love. The way your kids interact with their surroundings says so much about who they are as people (not to mention gives you a reminder of just how big, or small, they are at this moment in time).
As the photographer, you get to choose what to focus on. You get to show us what’s important to you. You get to show us how you see the world, your unique view on your unique life.
NOTE: For those of you whose kids are old enough, I highly recommend getting them involved in this project. Get them access to a camera and let them show you what they see. And that way, images of you will be included in the essay as well.
After you finish gathering your images, sift through them and see what stands out to you. What do you notice? Are there moments that feel like they “sing”? Moments, themes, or attitudes that recur throughout your collection? You’ll begin to see what matters, what you value.
Look for patterns and through lines in your images. Look for moments that take your breath away or that “just feel right.” The images to include in your essay are the images that tell a story, reveal a truth, capture an essence, or evoke an emotion. Who is this person? What is their essence? What matters to them?
For each image you select ask yourself why it’s important. What story does it tell? And then ask again, why is that story important? You may also enjoy writing these stories down and adding them to your final product.
Once you’ve created and selected your images, it’s time to give them structure. There are several ways to go about this depending on the story you’re trying to tell:
How you choose to structure your images may change from project to project, but the most important thing is to make a tangible copy. Print it, bind it, collage it, but make it a living document you share with your family and not just something that sits on your hard drive.
A family photo essay will grow to be a cherished part of your family’s legacy, giving your children a sense of belonging. Your story does indeed matter. It’s time to reclaim the art of the family snapshot.
Please share any other tips or comments you have below, as well as your family photo essay images. Have you done a project like this? Tell us about it.
The post How to Create a Family Photo Essay by Miki DeVivo appeared first on Digital Photography School.
The National Maritime Museum in London recently acquired a dramatic shipwreck photo collection from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. John Gibson started a family photography business in the 1860s and took his first photograph of a shipwreck in 1869. His family has created some of the most evocative images of misadventure at sea over the last 125 years. See gallery
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
With my background being in classic style studio portraiture (aka “boring”), and 25 years experience photographing portraits and weddings, I have a few tips up my sleeve for you. If you’ve never done a family or group portrait before don’t be intimidated. Be honest with the family and tell they you’re just learning, I bet they’ll be willing participants to help you out and they get some nice photos in exchange.
With a little planning, doing a family portrait should be fun for both you, and the family you’re photographing. Here are 10 quick tips to help you have a successful and fun photo session.
Let’s take a look at each in more detail.
“Ugh”, I already know what you’re thinking. A tripod cramps your style. It’s too heavy and cumbersome. Your style is more free flowing. That all may be true and in some cases (like photographing kids running or doing more documentary style photography) it may be better to shoot hand held. However, just consider another side of the coin.
When being photographed most, if not all, people are nervous. Yes nervous! Some are down right scared, and some would even go as far to say that they “hate it”. So it is part of your job to help your subjects feel more comfortable and relaxed. That can be hard to do when you’re also nervous, especially if you’re new to portraits. But there’s a big advantage of putting that camera on the tripod. Two actually.
#1 – it automatically forces you to slow down. That’s a good thing. You can check your settings, review the composition, and exposure to make sure you’ve got everything right. All to often it’s easy to get carried away once you put the camera up to your eye and forget to check something only to see later you had the wrong White Balance, or ISO was 6400, or you accidentally shot Small JPG. Slow down, avoid an “oops”.
#2 – it allows you to get your eye away from the camera so you can actually make eye contact with your subjects. They are very real people and they feel even more uncomfortable staring straight into your lens than they do looking at you. You can make gestures to get kids attention, or make faces. But you’ll get way better expressions by interacting with them than you will looking through the viewfinder. Try it!
Assuming that you are setting something up, choosing the time of day and the location carefully, you have control of all the elements. Meaning, once you get set up the exposure should not need to change. But if you put it in Aperture or Shutter priority, depending in the metering mode selected, the camera could choose a slightly different exposure for each frame. You do NOT want that! Consistency is very important.This post is sponsored by our partners Wigs
Inconsistent exposures create more work in post processing, as you have to even them all out. It also can cause a slight color shift, increase noise (if underexposed) and other undesirable things. To keep your exposures consistent through the whole shoot, use Manual Mode. Just remember that each time you change the pose, location, etc, you need to check exposure again. I just fire off a quick test shot, review the histogram, adjust if necessary and continue.
Just as you do not want the exposure to change from frame to frame, neither do you want the focus to be adjusted. Assuming you’ve taken #1 to heart and are using a tripod, you will not be moving. Likely if you’ve posed your group in a relatively static position, they will not be moving. Not much anyway. We are only concerned with moving closer to, or further away from the camera. So . . .
Set your camera up to do one of the following: use focus lock, back button focus, or use manual focus. With any of those options the focus will not change from shot to shot. If you use the shutter button to focus and someone moves a little bit so that the focus dot hits the background, you got another “oops”. If you aren’t sure how to do this, consult your camera manual.
Bonus tip: If your camera has video capabilities you have a neat way of doing manual focus. Turn on the Live View so you can see the image on your screen. Hit your “zoom” button (it may have a magnifying glass or a “+” sign on it) once or twice. The image on the screen will zoom in (your lens doesn’t) so you can see what is in focus which allows for much most precise manual focusing. Press zoom again to return to normal view and turn off Live View.
You may or may not have heard this one before, or perhaps you weren’t 100% what it meant. What you want to avoid is a boring straight line, row, or column of heads. Diagonal lines are more dynamic and add interest to an image, so try to do that with the people in your grouping.
Imagine there is a line drawn from each face to the next. Try and position them so that no head is directly on top of, or beside (same level) another. Make diagonal lines not totem poles. Use props to seat some people or bring some small folding stools. Have some people sit down, or stand up on something. Use what is naturally in the environment to pose them, or if you have nothing available just arrange them so the heights are staggered.
This is a general rule when photographing any people and it’s a good one. People tend to stand stiff and rigged when you position them, so you need to get them to bend a few body parts to look more natural. Nobody naturally stands stiff as a board. Here are a few starters
You get the idea. The best way to get someone to do any of this is to do it yourself and have them mirror you. Face them, do the pose you want them to do, and have them mimic it exactly.
Example of bending body parts. The girls did a much better job here than the guys but even the arms bent at the elbow helps. Some people are stiff and you may have a challenge with them. Just do your best.
I’ve found that often parents will tell their kids “you need to be good and smile” before a photo session. For many kids that puts too much pressure on them to “perform”. I usually prepare my parents by getting them to tell their kids this instead:
We’re doing to the park to take some photos. It will be a lot of fun.
That’s it! No expectations other than fun. Then prepare yourself. Bring along props, get mom to bring one of their favourite toys or books. I usually have a hand puppet and bubbles in my camera bag along with my gear. If the kids don’t want to sit and smile don’t force them. Then them run around and be kids for a while and shoot that. Play with them, make it fun. Then they may cooperate and sit for a bit a few minutes later.
When I’m photographing kids I make a total idiot of myself. I make funny noises, I sing songs (I’m really bad but they don’t care), I make fish faces, I play peek-a-boo behind the camera. I run back and forth to the camera with the puppet. I lie on the ground, I stick my butt out. Kids are the ones that have life the right way around, it’s us adults that ruin it. Let them be kids, let them have fun. Then be ready to capture it when it happens.
This was a game of peek-a-boo around the tree. Look at those genuine smiles! You can’t force those.
Here’s the bottom line – if mom thinks she looks fat she isn’t going to like them no matter how great the lighting and expressions (see #8 and #9 below). So get this one right.
Be aware of people’s perceived “flaws” and work with them. A list of some quick tips.
The lying in the grass, pile on top pose. Great for families with small children. This family didn’t need the pose to correct anything, it’s also just fun having the kids jump on top and squish mom and dad.
Light can make or break any photograph, portraits are no different. The very derivative of the word photography is “drawing with light”. The biggest thing you want to make sure you do for portraits is get light into your subjects’ eyes. There are many ways to do that and that’s a whole huge topic but there are a few things you can do to set yourself up to start off with good light.
Just as important as getting some light in the eyes is having it come from a good direction. We’ve established overhead isn’t good direction, neither is straight from camera. So turning on your built-in pop flash isn’t going to give you good light. Neither is sticking a speedlight on top. Light direct from the camera angle flattens the subject, that is not what you want. You want the light to come from the side more, 30-45 degrees from camera is a good starting point. To learn more about this read my article on the 6 Lighting Patterns Every Photographer Should Know.
This was done just before sunset. The sun is coming just over their shoulders on the left, behind them. I used a flash, bounced into an umbrella also to the left to add light to their faces, without it they’d be in shadow.
So if lighting is king, getting the right expressions is everything! You can totally screw up the lighting, and the pose, but if you get them laughing or making “that” face – it’ll be a big hit! So how do you do that?
See #1 first of all. Then look at #6. Being a photographer means that sometimes you have to also become a comedian, or a clown. Knowing the right thing to say or do to make people smile is mostly experience. Sometimes you’ll get tough adults too. The dad in the photo above by the brick wall pretty much has the same expression all the time. I’ve known this family and photographed them for 13 years, they’re friends too. So I know I can bug him a little bit or get out the ducky to have some fun at his expense.
If there are small children or babies involved make sure to get their attention. It even helps to have an assistant, tell them to bring Grandma along or a friend to help out. But what always happens is you get the kids all looking and smiling, and what are the parents doing? Looking at the kids! Oops again! I always tell the parents, “no matter what keep looking at me as I make a total fool of myself, do NOT look at your child”.
Baby laughing, everyone else followed instructions and looked at me, success!
Last tip is to no take yourself so seriously. Create a few really whacky shots at the end of the session (or even in the middle if the energy seems to be fading). Tell them to do a group squish and really get them to squish. Often they will start laughing and as they pull apart you grab the shot. Do a pile on down in the grass. Ask them to jump in the air or make goofy faces (you make one too). It breaks the tension and lightens up the mood.
I volunteered my time at an event called Help Portrait last year that has photographers, make up artists and organizers giving their time to create portraits for people that otherwise couldn’t afford a professional one. They ended up sending most of the families to me, initially because I had the biggest area to do the group photo and later because the other photographers said I was the best with the kids. To see some of my photos from that event go to Help Portrait, Edmonton 2012.
I was making a similar face!
My off camera flash stopped working so this is direct from camera, not my first choice. But we were all tired and I thought this would be fun so we just went for it. Notice dad has a new expression!
Get the family to think about what they are going to wear. Some people disagree with my point of view on that, which is totally fine. But if you want to read more about it go to Clothing for Portraits.
Get out there and photograph some families and have fun!
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
10 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits
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