Free 14 Page Posing Guide For Portrait Photographers Download our free 14 page posing guide for portrait photographers. In this guide we’re going to look a variety of ways to pose women’s hands during a portrait session. We’ll also look at strategies for communicating with your clients effectively.
Clients and professional models look to the photographer for guidance on posing and presentation. Most people need some direction on how to stand, what to do with their hands and feet and how to present themselves in front of the camera. As portrait photographers, it’s up to us to lead the session. Your confidence and ability as a photographer will set the tone for the portrait session and help your client feel confident that you know what you’re doing. 4922 Downloads Ready To Learn More? Check Out Pocket Poser™ This free guide is sponsored by Pocket Poser™ (smartphone and tablet posing app). ™ features over 300 poses, portrait guides and Lightroom presets.
Always have access to 100s of professional portrait poses and learn the latest posing techniques using Pocket Poser™ for smartphones and tablets! Pocket Poser™ features over 300 professional poses of men and women. Access to over 400 professional poses of men and women. Detailed instructions and best practices on portrait photography, posing and lighting. Access to Lightroom workflow, vintage and split toning presets for portraits and weddings. Regular content updates. Look forward to new poses and guides via in-app updates.
Crisp thumbnails and full size images demonstrating each pose. Poses are sortable by category so you can quickly find specific styles. Favorite poses can be saved and reviewed separately. All posing content is available offline. Compatibility with over 9000 Android smartphones and tablets. Easy to understand “how-to” posing overlays accompany many of the images providing detailed information about how poses were constructed and common mistakes to avoid.
New and experienced portrait photographers as well as models searching for professional techniques will find Pocket Poser™ a valuable resource. Share This Guide! You are welcome to share this guide (including hosting it on your own website). We just asked that you do not change the content of the guide in any way.
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Family posing made easy Do you ever wonder how photographers seem to capture natural, candid, and connected images so easily? Do you struggle with families looking stiff and awkward during family sessions? Are you nervous to pose families because you are afraid it will end up yielding a stiff pose? Do you show up at your sessions and feel lost because you don't even know where to begin when it comes to family posing? Have you been avoiding learning how to pose because you don't want your families to look posed, but rather candid and carefree? Or perhaps you have been at this for years but feel the need to freshen it up and want your images to be more emotive and meaningful?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, this guide is for you! I am gong to share with you my step-by-step formula to execute 45 of my favorite go-to family poses! We aren't talking stiff and boring poses, we are talking poses full of life, love, and movement. Everything you are dying to create!
No fluff, just an actual step-by-step guide to connected family posing! It's that easy! This is so much more than visual inspiration. If you only want posing ideas, you could simply spend hours browsing Pinterest.
This is actual instruction so that you know EXACTLY how to execute each pose. Beyond that, I will even talk you through how to make the pose your own. As an instructor, my goal isn't to show my students how to be like me; I want to show my students how to be uniquely them! I want to offer an online experience that is much like my in-person workshops. One in which you can learn what is behind connected family photography posing. So how is this going to work?
When you purchase this course, you will receive an email with the document that will provide the information you need to access the course page. You will have lifetime access to this course.
You will have immediate access to all four modules so that you can get to work! Grab your ear buds and a notebook. It's going to feel like we are sitting down at a table together, with me giving you the exact steps I take to execute all of my base family poses. You will have all the knowledge you need to pose, guide, and direct into genuine and connected family posing! The information will be provided to you via video instruction. This way, I can walk you through each pose much like I would during an in-person mentoring session.
In addition, you will also get the PDF so you can have the guide to read whenever you'd like. I am sharing 45 family poses, the very poses I use every week during my family sessions. These are the base poses I use for all of my family sessions. You can take each pose and make it your own. Best part is, I even tell you what to say to your families to get natural interactions. We aren't talking stiff and boring poses. We are talking connected and meaningful poses that yield the artistic images you are looking for.
What will you learn? I am sharing with you ALL of my base poses for connected family posing! This class is focused entirely on family poses with some specifics on mother-and-child and father-and-child poses. You will learn all about posing the entire family with children of all ages and families of all sizes. You will be given actionable steps that you will be able to implement immediately. I will share with you exactly what I say to execute each pose. You will get tips on how to maximize each pose so you can get as many images as possible from each pose.
You will learn how to make each pose unique to both your artistic style and each individual family's dynamic. Wondering why I am qualified to teach you this? I live in Seattle, WA, I love to travel, hike and explore with my family, I'm pretty laid back, and I regularly eat chips and salsa for lunch!
I am passionate about meaningful and connected Lifestyle Family Photography. I have been at this for almost ten years and I photograph over 100 families each year. I am Seattle's most sought after Lifestyle Photographer booking my schedule out a year in advance. I have taught thousands of photographers through my workshops with Click Photo School, as well as workshops that I host myself both online and in-person. I have also spoken at multiple conferences across the country about this exact topic. It's kinda my thing. I have a sincere desire to rise up leaders in this community and believe there is more than enough business for all of us!
This class was born from the common misconception that connected family photography simply unfolds naturally. I am a firm believer that the most skilled lifestyle photographers are actually posing and guiding quite a bit and I want to share with you exactly how I do that! I hope you will join my education community! This course is amazing! Elena has found the perfect way to lay the framework for so many great poses, without making you feel like you are memorizing impossible details or micro posing. She finds the perfect balance between giving you a plan and helping you feel prepared, while still giving space for creativity and flexibility throughout the session. I especially love all the inside information she gives along the way about different cues and little phrases that she’ll tell families as she goes.
I love adding all these little tricks to my toolbox. Thank you so much for all your help, Elena. You’ve done it again! — Beth Chang.
Posing Tips for Families When you have the honor of capturing a family photo (and I wholeheartedly feel it is an honor) it is critical that you remember one word—connection. This group of people is connected by love and by blood. Your photo should capture their connection to one another as much as possible. This is super easy for families with small kids.
They naturally hold their children close and hug, snuggle, and tickle. Families with older children have moved away from this a little, but they still share a deep connection. Sometimes I’ll have a daughter put her arm through her mom’s or hold hands with a younger sibling.
Boys can put their arms on each other’s shoulders or just stand close together. Sometimes asking them to do something silly or making them laugh will show connection as well. I have had families that just aren’t comfortable with a lot of touching or silliness and that is just fine, too.
I hope today’s Posing Tips help you enjoy photographing lasting family relationships! Happy Photographing!
0 Comments Previously in the posing guide series articles we looked at, and. It is now time for posing groups of people. There are usually three kinds of group shots. First are just formal shots with a large number of people. Second are more informal shots with a group of friends.
And finally, photographing a group or family members. In this order, let’s look at some sample poses and posing ideas.
When working with a large group of people you won’t be able to control each individual’s pose or expression. This is fine as long as you pay attention to the overall composition. Imagine the whole group to be a single object.
Principally, make sure that all people in the group are visible. When photographing large groups, quite often the only possible composition in order to get everyone into the frame will be to compose in full height. These kind of shots are usually formal and documentary so again, your primary objective here would be to get everyone in the group clearly visible. If possible, search for ways to shoot from an elevated angle. Using a balcony or climbing on a car to get a higher viewpoint could work perfectly. It will definitely be worth the effort, because instead of an ordinary and common group shot you will get more interesting and inviting perspective. There are occasions when standing separately for the members of a group will be more appropriate than “keeping heads together”.
Maybe it’s not the best way to take a “friendly group”, but might work very well for a small team shot, e.g. Music band or co-workers in a project. If a group has a known leader, put him or her in front for even stronger composition. This is pretty much a standard way to photograph a group of friends. Yes, it’s easy, ordinary and common way to pose for snapshots, but it really works, so – why not? This is a fun composition which comes across as a quite friendly pose. Ask everyone to stand very close together.
Then make them lean their heads slightly closer to each other and towards the camera. Ask the group to form a circle while lying in the grass outdoors or on the ground indoors while you shoot from above. Very fun and rewarding way to set up a small group of people. Choose a “group leader” and put him or her in front.
The others should then join one by one. Each of them is supposed to stand behind the previous person peeking towards the camera over the shoulder etc. Supporting themselves a little on the person directly in front adds to the cordiality of the composition.
A slight variation of the previous one. Put a “group leader” in front and the others to appear behind each other. Take shots with different aperture settings and choose later if you prefer only the first one or all of the group members to be in focus. Very fun way for informal picture of group of friends.
For the best results, ask a group to make a jump after a short run. Very rewarding and interesting composition is to shoot group of people in a row. Check that everybody is clearly visible and shoot from a close distance with a wide aperture and focus on the first person.
Yes, people farther away will be blurred, but they will still agree that a result is a very interesting and unusual looking group shot. Now, let’s look at some family samples. The most common way to photograph all the family members is sitting on a couch in the living room. It is not the most creative way for a family shot, but it can be done quite fine. The easiest way to improve these standard compositions is simply to crop real tight.
Don’t include that lovely couch and room’s furniture in the shot. Fill the frame with and only with all the family members. Another good idea for family shots is to simply get outside. Sitting in the lawn, in a local park or on a beach – all of these are excellent places to take some family shots. Just remember – when subjects are sitting, don’t remain standing – get low and shoot from your subjects’ eye level. A family lying close together on the ground. Make them lift their upper bodies a bit by using their arms as supports.
Shoot from a low angle. A beautiful composition for a family shot. Might be done outdoors on the ground or indoors in a bed.
Works absolutely fine with any number of kids. Cozy pose with a family sitting comfortably on their favorite couch. For an unusual and interesting family picture, turn the traditional couch photo setting around. Simply take your shots from the back side and see what a huge difference it can make. Just a slight variation when taking a picture from the couch’s back side.
Absolutely beautiful way to make shots of a group of family members. Just ask the kids to hang onto the adults’ backs. Very easy pose for a full height shot. As you can imagine, works well with any number of persons. Take shots with the family walking hand in hand. Shoot in continuous mode and select the photos with the best leg movement and positioning.
Keep in mind to control a focus, while subjects are approaching from a distance. And finally, be creative and come up with different variants on your own. Think of ways you can transform the corresponding pose for your particular shooting scenario and subjects. Use these initial sample poses as a source for your own creativity! Check out our other Posing Guides:.
Grab Our Guide to Portrait Posing Kaspars Grinvalds is a photographer working and living in Riga, Latvia. He is the author of where more poses and tips about people photography are available. Never have people leaning in towards the camera, they can lean toward each other though. Everyone needs to have eyes forward but not directly in the camera lens, it’s okay to pose groups with people simulating looking at one another, but they actually shouldn’t be looking at one another. The larger the group the longer it will take to get it correct. Don’t rush this. If the time isn’t allotted for this then skip it.
You’d be better off photographing individuals then compositing or photographing groups of three’s and compositing. Remember you want a dramatic portrait, underexpose just a little. Use flash whenever possible, go Big! Complement the light source you already have, and get that light up high! Don’t use wide angle lenses for group images.
Unless it’s a sporting event or war and you want to portrait lots of emotions and vigor. It’ll be easier to pose and position people using a longer lens. If I had a crop sensor I wouldn’t go under say 105mm, or 15mm to be safe.
If I shoot FF, then use something around 135mm this works well, but as low as 50mm and up to 170mm will work. (I have a 300mm which I’ve used before, a telephoto lens isolates and diminishes).
But this also means you may end up with less detail in the faces, remember takes away the emotion. Also, whatever distance you choose to shoot at, try to always keep that distance, whatever works for you.
I’ve got a loud voice that carries so I don’t mind to be far away, I can talk without people thinking I’m yelling at them. If you pose the group then change focal lengths not everyone is going to look the same as the perspectives will change. Pick a focal length you like or two and stick with it for that group. In one of the drawings above they have the adults looking at the camera, one of the kids looking at mom and the other kid looking off the frame, Don’t do this! Also don’t have your subjects pilled on top of one another and don’t have anyone carrying someone else (there are exceptions but none anyone in this group will every have applied to them) so just don’t do these things.
When you have two tall and two short, place the tall in the middle and the short on the outside. Form triangles with noses. Never have three noses on the same plane, Get the chins right! Shoulders, Arms, Hands, Hips, Feet.
When posing with pairs, don’t put these on the same planes. You do this and all the work you’ve done will go out the window. Good luck and happy shooting!
Michael January 7, 2013 09:49 am @Steve from May 25th. I have to side with others like Kaspars who disagree with the arms being folded giving an 'arrogant' appearance. I have been shooting people for decades and I can tell you, people don't know what to do with their hands and OFTEN feel and look more comfortable (and natural) with their arms crossed. Yes, If they lean back and look down their nose at the camera like some puffy-chested rapper, the attitude changes. But this is the exception. If they are heavy, it often looks forced as they can not comfortably cross their arms, but I shoot people A LOT with folded arms, and I don't think they ever look arrogant. Take a look at these and let me know if you think anyone looks arrogant.
Scott May 31, 2012 04:13 am I don't like being the negative Nancy of the form but I'm going to be anyways. I enjoy the poses the author is sharing, they are all great. BUT DO NOT BUY THIS APP IN THE APP STORE! Yes it is convenient to have them on your iDevice, but the author is sharing more poses on DPS than they are sharing for PAYING CUSTOMERS. I have had the app for over a months now and yet to receive an update with new poses. Props to the author for great poses and drawings, but greatly dissatisfied and borderline angry no updates when in app description says, '### We are currently working hard on bringing you a lot more poses soon!###.
Kaspars Grinvalds May 30, 2012 11:21 pm @dick - thanks for a very good question! Well, first of all, let's keep in mind, there are no absolutes - no dos or donts. Look at all these 'rules' as suggestions 'try this and that'. As in your example with subjects sitting on the ground, try all three shooting angles - from the sitting position, standing and elevated from above. And then simply choose one, which works the best for your scenario.
I personally have found that slightly unusual angle or perspective for me usually is more engaging and those pictures somehow tend to stand out. But really, it's up to you! Jason May 28, 2012 09:34 am Steve - I have never gotten upset with anyone posting on DPS, until now. Constructive criticism is one thing, but you basically talked down to the author in front of everyone.
Its inappropriate. The author put himself out there and gave you an article that you didn't pay for I might add, and while you have the legal right to say whats on your mind, there is the issue of common decency. Perhaps you were just having a bad day - or maybe you just are just a really rude guy. Or maybe you like the negative attention (like a three year old temper tantrum). I really don't care who you are - and what you have accomplished in your life.
I don't care if you were Ansel Adams reincarnate - Its rude. Please don't call people out again - as you can see for yourself - no matter what you say in your next post - it doesn't feel good! As for 'rules'.
Look, it really wouldn't be ART if you just color inside the lines. As much as you may not want to cross your arms during an interview, because Zig Ziglar, and the rest of the business self help folks told you it was a bad idea to do so, or to have facial hair, or not to wear red white and blue in your attire. When a subject is taking fun photos he is NOT applying for a job at a fortune 500 company. Heck, if every picture we took was supposed to be scrutinized by corporate america - it would be a horrific existence. One of the reasons I am a photographer is so that I don't have to conform.
I do that at my day job as an airline captain. There is no need to add such structure to family, fun, heck even corporate photographs. If the CEO of GE refuses to cross his arms in my portrait session - so be it. But when the rest of the HUMANS out there, if they like the look, so be it. Im not looking to win friends and influence people, or become a wealthy barber - or rich dad poor dad all the time. Picasso would have been fired by HR for sexual harassment, and god knows what kind of lawsuit leanardo da vinci would have encountered for all those nude images he created!!! WHO CARES Like I said, I don't care if you have the worlds largest commercial portrait studio and earn a billion dollars a year.
Just as Kaspars told you in his post TO EACH THEIR OWN. Please do not attack an author again - its rude. And I don't like calling people out either - but someone has got to stand up for the author. He obviously has too much class to respond to you in kind. Susan Wood - you misunderstood #7, they aren't looking down on the camera, they are looking up while laying on the grass. Dick May 27, 2012 05:08 am Just curious. Torque perkins 1300 series parts manual.
You stated earlier that pix of groups from a higher elevation, like a balcony, were good. So why wouldn't this work for groups sitting down, i.e., with you as the photographer standing up? Another good idea for family shots is to simply get outside. Sitting in the lawn, in a local park or on a beach – all of these are excellent places to take some family shots. Just remember – when subjects are sitting, don’t remain standing – get low and shoot from your subjects’ eye level. Read more:.
Kaspars Grinvalds May 25, 2012 05:57 pm @steve - You refer to those indeed popular and commonly exploited body language 'rules' that says crossing arms and legs means putting up some barriers etc. Even if such beliefs are widespread, it doesn't mean they are correct.
In pictures crossed arms on the chest don't send any subconscious signs or warnings. That's all a complete nonsense. Or at least very superficial generalization of body language. Crossing arms and legs in all different ways is absolutely fine for people photography. Of course, we may leave this to our own personal taste, but I just want you to encourage not limit yourself and try some crossed arms poses with your subjects. You might surprisingly find that such a pose may as well indicate kindness and tenderness.
Steve May 25, 2012 02:07 am The first three poses suffer a major flaw. Unless you are deliberately making your model(s) out to be arrogant, self-comforting (nervous), close-minded or out-right adversarial, DO NOT HAVE THEM CROSS THEIR ARMS. You wouldn't present yourself at job interview with this pose,(unless you don't want the job), so why would you pose your friends and or clients in this manner. Especially when you are committing them to a still image. Crossed arms is still powerful (negative) body language, even if you belong to the 'gangster wanna be generation' and it is consistently used by photographers who can't come up with more creative solutions. ( if your subject naturally crosses their arms, its a sign either they really don't enjoy being photographed or they might want to convey something that in the end isn't the message you are attempting to achieve).
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If you came here looking for ten specific poses for families, you're probably going to be disappointed. But if you came here for some strategies and techniques for posing to get the best images from your family portrait sessions, then keep reading.
Sure, some of these tips go a little beyond just actual posing, but if you are doing it right then it all blends seamlessly together for some epic family photos. Posing is about more than just placing people in a specific position and having them hold it. It is about using your skill (and a few tricks) to help your subjects look their best in your photos. I should add a disclaimer here.
I talk a lot about avoiding traditional posing and more about a relaxed fun atmosphere. That does not mean that learning posing techniques is useless. In fact, it is tremendously helpful and important for you to know everything about more traditional posing fundamentals that you can learn. However, don't rely on just that when dealing with families. They aren't models. Personality and emotion is far more important than positioning.
You will need to know the fundamentals so that you can quickly move a hand into a more flattering position or tilt the shoulders to get the best angle. However, consider these to be small tweaks to throw in when necessary, not the only thing that matters. So let's get started 1. Find a good spot and Work It Some sports are perfect. If you have shot a few family portraits, then you know these spots.
It's where the light is soft, diffused, non-directional and the background is simple and aesthetically pleasing. The open shade area with lush green trees (or beautiful Fall colors) in the background, for example. It's hard to get the wrong angle or bad light in these situations.
I had one of these recently. I was on a beach during golden hour and there was a large pier blocking the direct sun.
I had all the golden goodness and none of the shadows of the direct light. As a result, we could really focus on getting the positioning right.
This spot under the pier was perfect. It was in the shade and also created great image depth by lining up the pier supports. Identify these locations and work through your poses in this spot.
Get your safe shots here. Get your close ups of the kids here. Do that fun shot of dad throwing his four year old in the air here.
Family Posing Guide
This is where you can get all your bread and butter shots. This also lets you focus on the posing without worrying about the light or camera settings or flash. It is a great time to really hone in on the little things like hand placement, body angles, weight distribution, and all those other things that we tend to forget about when there are light issues to worry about.
It is also a great place to get creative. Even once you are a pro at posing, finding this “happy place” where you don't have to worry about other things can help you take your posing to the next level. Give Basic Guidelines Rather than Specific Poses I may get some disagreement on this one but the days of the intricately posed family photo are over. Sure, you want to get those one or two classic shots of the whole family so they can hang it over their fireplace or send an 8×10 to the grandparents, but make the rest of the shoot fun for them. Instead of spending the entire time positioning them, give them some basics of posing and let them relax and take it from there.
Some of the tips I usually give are:. Extend your chin towards the camera (just slightly!) and then lower it (just slightly!). Women shouldn't square your shoulders to the camera but the men can (unless they want to look a little slimmer). Get close to each other. Open space between your subjects is rarely a good thing. Every shoot I tell them, “make believe you like each other” and tighten it up!
I am sure you all have more of these kind of basic tips, so let's hear them in the comments below. Move Yourself To Create New Poses Depending on the ages of the kids, once you get a family in a good spot, it can take a while to move them and get them reset in another spot.
So make the most of every time you get them set up. I am not a huge fan of overly posed shots, but if I am going to take the time to set them up in a pose and get everyone aligned the right way, you can bet I'll get plenty of shots from that setup before I make them move again. First, get the standard eye level classic type of shot.
Then get low, get high, move around to the side, and do whatever else you can to create different looks from that same setup. It is a lot easier to move yourself than it is to move a whole family, especially if they have little ones.
You can usually tell which angle is going to catch the light just right but you never know which one the client will fall in love with. So go for different options.
If any are complete failures, just don't present that particular option to your client. Plan Out Groupings Rather than Poses Remember what is important to most family portrait clientseach other.
Your clients may not ever notice that their hand is in a perfect position or that they form a perfect triangle formation. They will notice if they don't have an image with a family member they want. Combinations like Dad and daughter, Mom and son, Grandma and the kids are all very important to your clients. In most instances this is more important to them then creative poses, good lighting, or even being in perfect focus! These are the images that will find their way to various family member's walls. This family was all about having fun. They didn't need any posing and their photos came out great.
As their photographer, it is your job and duty to make sure you get all these combinations. It helps to ask your clients ahead of time what combinations are important to them. Get those first!
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Then move onto other combinations. This is also a great way to get interactions from your subjects.
Which leads me to my next tip 5. Shoot Reactions and Interactions This is less of a posing technique and more of a shooting philosophy. I would rather let kids do their own thing and be a silent observer than have to force them into a pose.
This is where you can get the genuine reactions and unique photos. Tell them a joke (kid appropriate of course!) or, better yet, let them tell you a joke.
Most kids have a joke ready that they think is funny and they almost always laugh at their own joke. Half the time its not even a real joke but they think it's funny and are cracking up about it. That is usually contagious and before you know it, the entire family is laughing. That's all you need. There is nothing wrong with getting the posed shots, but don't forget to let your clients have fun, interact with each other, and relax. Even with adults, this is a surefire way to let their personality show through.
One of my favorite posing tricks when shooting a couple is to tell one of them to whisper something in the other's ear and I won't listen. To this day I have no idea what any of them have said to each other and I'll never ask.
They could be making fun of me for all I know, but it works! Whether the words are sweet and romamtic, cute and funny, or something that can't be repeated here, you are bound to get some kind of reaction from them. Get On Their Level Kids are small. We know this, yet most people (and many photographers) will stand up while taking their photo. This is a sure way to make it look like every other snapshot that mom has on her phone. Get down on their level.
A lot of things happen when you do this. You create a unique perspective. Everyone is used to the photos of their kid looking up at the camera. Get your shots at eye level and you've already created something unique that they will like. You also engage the child more.
Once you get down there, he or she will be more interested in interacting with you. Keeping them interested is how you get little ones to “pose.” Sometimes I ask them what they see in the lens. Usually they can see their reflection and I get some great reactions.
None of this is possible if you are standing up and shooting down on them. Now get even lower! Get on your stomach and shoot up at the kids. No one ever takes snapshots like this so you know this is a perspective they have never seen before.
It may work, it may not, but it will be unique and when it works, it will help the family realize the value in hiring you as opposed to using their phone to take photos of their kids. Get the Kids Involved In Posing Kids have short attention spans. Some are really into cheesing it up in front of the camera and others want nothing to do with posing or even having a camera pointed at them. So let them call the shots (sometimes). I'll ask them how they want to pose.
Most of the time you will get some goofy faces (which can still make for some great photos) and sometimes you get some genuine personality from them. Then ask them to pose their parents or their siblings. Most kids will have fun with this and make them do some goofy stuff. You will be surprised how good some of these photos can turn out though! Your job is to be ready and capture that moment that shows a family having fun with each other. This guy was not posing, he was playing. His enjoyment really showed in the photo.
Don't Pose the Little Ones This goes along with the previous tip. You will never be able to effectively pose a 1 year old. I am pretty sure that is one of the accepted rules of the universe. So don't try. Interact with them. Talk to them. Get them to laugh if you can.
Make sure they are having fun and are comfortable. This is partly their parent's job but also yours.
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You don't want them afraid of you. So don't just bark orders at the little ones. Try your best to connect with them. Ask them about their favorite TV show or toy or simply just make some goofy faces and noises. One thing to keep in mind here is that the parents will often be so focused on getting their cute little baby to laugh, that they are looking at them the whole time and forget to look at the camera themselves! This is totally fine and makes for a really endearing shot of mom and baby looking at each other laughing, for example, but you also want to make sure you get at least a few shots where you can see the parent's faces!
It can help to subtly remind mom and dad before the shoot to remember to look up once they get a good reaction. Be ready If you have listened to the previous eight tips then you know that capturing the perfect family photo is about more then placing everyone in the right spot and pressing the shutter once. Just like our clients don't have to stand still while a guy in a top hat ignites a flash lamp made of gun powder to take their photo, we as photographers are not limited to perfectly held poses. Today's family photographer needs some very similar skills to a sports photographer. Kids have a lot of energy and once they get riled up, they will not be standing still. This is not necessarily a bad thing as you can capture some very dynamic action shots of the kids playing.
But you have to be ready for it. How do you make sure you are ready?.
Get comfortable shooting in manual. Priority modes can be thrown off by something bright in the frame as your subject moves and you follow them. You want to be dialed in to the right settings for the subject and not have to worry about slight variations in the background throwing everything off. This was clearly not a planned pose, but it's one that this family will treasure forever. Shoot in continuous mode.
Just like sports, you never know exactly when that perfect moment is coming. So it helps if you can track your subject and fire off short bursts. Don't go crazy. Short targeted bursts work better than spraying 100 frames (and its easier to edit too). As an aside, this helps even with the static shots to make sure you get multiple frames to increase your chances of everyone looking at the camera at the same time. Back button focus.
There are two schools of thought on this but switching to back button focus improved my ability to adapt to changing situations quickly. It let's you lock on to a static subject and keep that focus from changing as you take multiple shots and also lets you track a moving subject all without changing any settings. Do an internet search for “back button focus” to learn more about it. You may ultimately decide against it, but its worth trying. Zoom lenses. I know primes are prettier and sharper and all that. But if I am grabbing a shot of a 4 year old running across the beach, I want some zoom action!
Plan Ahead There is nothing worse than showing up to a shoot, getting a few poses done quick because your clients are so easy to work with, and then having no more ideas left. Always have a bunch of posing ideas ready to go either on a small notepad or on your phone. Make sure you know what the family wants from the shoot. Are they serious? Are they goofy? Are they athletic? The more you can get to know them, the better the photos will be.
Once you have this information, use it! So many photographers will take the time to get to know a family and then just run through their regular posing routine. I just had a client tell me, “We need a couple traditional posed shots but then no more posing, just having fun.” This came out after the third time I had talked to them. First time was when I booked them. I asked the mom to tell me about her family. Second time was a pre-shoot phone call where we talked about their style and what shots they wanted (and they never mentioned this). Then finally, right before the shoot, I just started the conversation again by saying, “hey this is what I had in mind, what do you think?” and after all our previous conversations, the mom had been giving a lot of thought and figured out what they wanted.
This would never have happened if I hadn't made it a point to keep the conversation going. As a photographer, it's your job to make sure to get poses that the client wants. It also helps to be prepared for the location. Get there early, even if you have been there before. See where the sun is. See where the “happy places” are.
Figure out what kind of shots will work in specific locations. Instructor solution manual. Make a plan, but don't be bound by it. A plan is there to guide you, not to restrict you.
Let your client take you in the direction they want to go but have a plan ready for when they aren't sure where they want to go. As a professional, your job is to guide them, not force them into great photos.
Don't Stop Learning This is obviously not an exhaustive primer on posing. You should take these tips and start implementing them right away but also take the time to learn more about the fundamentals of posing. Watch a tutorial, read a book, study the posing of the masters of portrait photography.
Learn what positions work best to get a certain look and, more importantly, why they work. This is how we can all improve. Of course, I am sure there are so many other great tips you can think of for making the most out of that family portrait, so let's hear them in the comments below. Hey Stacy, I find that single point focus is helpful when shooting portraits. As long as your subject is not moving, then you don’t need the larger area of focus points and you can be more precise as to what you focus on.
Sometimes when your focus area is too large, the camera can make the mistake of focusing on the background instead. With groups, make sure you aren’t using a really wide aperture. F/1.8 or even f/2/8 may give you a nice blurry background, but with more than one person, you may have one or more of them outside the focus plane. If I am shooting two or more people, I almost never go below f/3.5 on a full frame (you can get away with f/2.8 on a crop sensor though). And don’t be afraid to check your image after you shoot it by zooming in on the preview on the camera. Zooming in is important because the screen on the camera is too small to really check the focus otherwise. Better to make your subject wait a few second while you check than to discover it after the fact.
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