Someone asked me if I would like to shoot their family portraits and of course I said "YES!" But now I am really nervous. It is on July 17th in a park and I have never done anything like this before. I was just wondering if any of you awesome photographers on 365project had any tips, suggestions, techniques, or cute ideas that I could use. Any suggestions would be a BIG help. Thanks so much!!!
How big is the family and what are the ages of the kids? I would suggest getting to know the family as much as possible. Find out what they like, what are their intrests? It will help you figure out what direction to take the photo session. If they are a fun loving family who aren't too shy, then you will be able to try more things and play around. If they are a more laid back family then your photo session probably should be too! Suggestions for the children's portraits is try and get a few shots of the kids by themselves and a few shots of the sibiling set. Give me a few more details and I will see what other tips I can come up with. Hope this helps!
But personally, when I do family photos, I love to capture those natural, precious family moments that you can't get when you pose them too much.
The laughs, the sweet looks between family members.
Thanks guys!
Tamara, the kids are 13 and 9. I know the family pretty well. The boy is the 13-year-old and he is very laid back and loves guitar. The 9-year-old is very energetic and loves horses.
Congrats!!!
First of all, I would ask them what they want!! If they want fun and silly, or more straight-laced portraits. If when you know you can scheme things in your head.
The other thing is do you know the park at all? If they've young kids in the family, then playing on slides etc can make nice pics, and bizzarely, getting them all to pull a silly face makes a fun shot, as well as gets kids attention as they seem to love it. Its never failed with me, even if parents moan! I also lie on the ground and get them to all lean over, so they fill the frame unually.
For group pics, I'd look for a shaded area tho and use a fill-in flash as harsh sunlight can create funny old facial shadows, but you prolly know this already. The only thing I have really is to take as many different types as possible, kids on own, all together, parents on own etc, because people love to chose the ones they want.
Enjoy and you'll do great, you're a fab photographer!
First, have fun with it. Relax and don't "try" to hard. Approach it with the attitude that it'll be fun, and a learning experience for you. You'll probably take some simple posed shots and some fun, more spontaneous ones. Some of the best portraits I've taken were between poses, when defenses were down and the shutter was unexpected.
One more thing - Surf the net for photographers and get ideas and inspiration from what they've done.
Everyone has given you some great tips, so I am just going to add one more thing,....going with Loni on researching photographers on posing ideas is a great idea! I do it all the time! Try Flikr and search 'Children's Portraits" and "Family Portraits". I am sure you will come up with some good ideas on your own too! Try writing down any ideas into a little notebook or on a single peice of paper,...it might be awkward to use it in front of them, but just tell them that you have done a little pre-planning to keep on track. I am sure they will understand. I have done it before! ;0)
Oh, and try this link for more inspiration if you want:
If you know them fairly well already, think about their interests and make some notes about using those interests in tandem with the people. For example, you mentioned that one of the boys likes guitar. My bro does, so I took a pic of him playing with his guitar. http://365project.org/vikdaddy/365/2010-06-21
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But personally, when I do family photos, I love to capture those natural, precious family moments that you can't get when you pose them too much.
The laughs, the sweet looks between family members.
Just keep them as natural as possible :)
Tamara, the kids are 13 and 9. I know the family pretty well. The boy is the 13-year-old and he is very laid back and loves guitar. The 9-year-old is very energetic and loves horses.
First of all, I would ask them what they want!! If they want fun and silly, or more straight-laced portraits. If when you know you can scheme things in your head.
The other thing is do you know the park at all? If they've young kids in the family, then playing on slides etc can make nice pics, and bizzarely, getting them all to pull a silly face makes a fun shot, as well as gets kids attention as they seem to love it. Its never failed with me, even if parents moan! I also lie on the ground and get them to all lean over, so they fill the frame unually.
For group pics, I'd look for a shaded area tho and use a fill-in flash as harsh sunlight can create funny old facial shadows, but you prolly know this already. The only thing I have really is to take as many different types as possible, kids on own, all together, parents on own etc, because people love to chose the ones they want.
Enjoy and you'll do great, you're a fab photographer!
One more thing - Surf the net for photographers and get ideas and inspiration from what they've done.
Good luck!
Oh, and try this link for more inspiration if you want:
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery-subject.asp
production design suggestion :
1. old victorian sofa in the middle of the park. (for group shot family portrait)
2. ask them to bring their "props", as you stated above, the 2 kids love guitars and horses. if they can bring... it can be a good help.... =)
1 . http://www.sharonblance.com/2009/11/park-portrait-with-lens-flare-effect/
2 . http://www.lifeisartphoto.com/blog/tag/jordan-park/