If you are getting assignments of family photography, understand that your job is easy as well as challenging. It’s easy in the sense that a family who wants them to be photographed together is easy to work with and it’s challenging in the sense that you have to capture photographs that will reflect the love, bond and attachment between the family members.
Donna Vie, a leading family photographer Las Vegas NV, believes in keeping a minimalist approach and as natural and organic photographs as possible. She shares a few valuable tips for beginner family photographers.
1. Communication is Important
Most families are not used to pose for professional photos and so, might feel a little awkward. In this scenario, it’s your responsibility to make them feel comfortable so as to capture natural images.
Communicate with them as much as possible. Play with kids and talk with the adults about various subjects, e.g. whether the husband loves Scarlett Johansson more or Angelina Jolie, and whether the wife adores Johnny Depp more or Dwayne Johnson. Crack jokes and make them laugh and relax. Avoid potentially stressful subjects like politics or economy hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also make clear that if they don’t feel comfortable in a particular pose, they don’t need to do it. Make them realize that their decision is final about posing, while your decision remains final about the technical aspects.
2. Avoid Setting Your Aperture Value Too Low
The success of portraits is when you succeed in getting your subjects sharp and the backdrop blurred. This effect is possible by setting a low aperture value i.e. around 2.8 which will give you an amazing blur. However, keep in mind that if your models move, they may be partly or totally out of focus. This can happen also with body parts. E.g. if your model moves their eyes, one eye could be in focus whereas the other could be blurred.
In such a scenario, you may need to increase your aperture number, in order to make the entire family to look sharp in the image. This may make your background not very strongly blurred, but will make everyone in the family look sharp.
3. Old is Gold
Family photos will be passed through generations and shown years later with pride to grandkids. If in that situation, you use modern editing techniques, they may look weird. So, you are better off with classic editing styles and simplicity, so as to create timeless images.
Family photography is all about making your models relaxed and capture natural shots. These tips will help you in that.