Making family portraits requires more than just camera skills. You’ll need to be organized and a great communicator, too. Let’s see how it’s done.
Professional family portrait photographers have a unique skill set: they’re fluent in their photographic technique, creative under pressure, and good with people – able to put their subjects at ease quickly so they’re relaxed and look great on camera.
This combination of skills is the result of hard work and practice. So, let’s have a look at some things that you can do to make family portraits like a pro.
Research the Location and Plan For the Light
Family portrait photo sessions don’t have to take place in a studio. In fact, many people prefer their pictures to be made in a more natural location that’s familiar to them: a local park or beach, for example, or even in their own home or garden. Try to visit this before the day itself so you can plan your poses and compositions in advance and bring the right equipment with you. You’ll also be able to see what the light is like.
© Alison Conklin
This is so important – without good light, your portraits will never have that professional look and feel. If you’re working outside, this is all about the time of day, the season, and the weather. Overcast, cloudy days are much better than full-on sunshine, which is only good at the end of the day in the golden hour.
That said, a diffuser is a great accessory to take with you, though you might need an extra pair of hands to help you. Ask your helper to hold it up so the diffuser’s shadow falls across your subject.
In full sunshine, a diffuser can deliver a light a like a studio softbox, but do be aware it will cut down light levels by one to two stops, which can make the background seem overexposed. Always try to position your subject against a dark background when you can.
Candid or Posed?
Should you pose people in your family portraits? Or make images without them knowing? Well, we would argue both – and these styles complement each other.
People are never going to feel at ease just by pretending you’re not there – what you need to do is get them used to you being there, as if you’re part of the furniture. The best way to do this is set up a posed image to begin with – something fun the family can enjoy and that doesn’t matter too much (you can always repeat the image later in the session – the point of this is to get them used to you and your camera).
© Alison Conklin
From here, move to making some candid pictures of kids playing together on the beach, or with mom and dad playing, too, if younger kids are in the frame. Keep your distance with a telephoto lens and try not to direct too much. Keep the light behind you if you can, or to the side of your subjects.
© Alison Conklin
Occasionally, when you’ve got a set of great candid pictures, you can create something posed – a group shot, a head shot, an individual portrait. The pictures will all sit together in a collection really nicely, since they’re made using the same lighting, location, and clothing. These posed pictures will just get your subjects even more relaxed around you, so you can switch back to candids again. Go round and round this circle as many times as you need to.
Think Triangles!
Ask a sports team to line up for a photo and that’s exactly what they will do – line up. That’s fine when you want a picture of the team all looking the same, with everyone easily identifiable, but we can do much better than this for the families you’re photographing.
Try to pose people in triangular arrangements, or in sub-groups that form triangles or diagonal lines. You can do this by either taking advantage of the natural difference in your subjects’ heights or by getting people to sit, stand, kneel, bend, or even lie down.
© Alison Conklin
Get Set…
There is a lot to think about when making portraits like this, so it pays to get your cameras set up exactly as you like them before the action starts.
Auto ISO is a great bonus, as this means you won’t have to watch your shutter speed all the time in case it dips too low. Similarly, Face/Eye Detection AF frees up more of your attention for interactions with your subjects. If your camera finds more than once face in the frame, you can switch between them by either using the touchscreen or by using a custom function button, set as Face select, and the joystick.
© Alison Conklin
In natural light, excessive contrast can be a concern. We’ve talked about how using diffusers can help here, but choosing the right Film Simulation mode and dynamic range settings can, too.
A Film Simulation mode like PRO Neg. Hi is ideal for the job. You could also experiment with your camera’s Dynamic Range Priority function. This combines DR, H-Tone and S-Tone adjustments to help preserve details in bright highlights and dark shadows.
Your Next Steps
- CHALLENGE Produce a set of photos for a family you know – a mixture of posed and candid pictures – and post the best ones to social media with the hashtags #MyFujifilmLegacy and #family. You can also submit your work here for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.
- LEARN – Download our booklet: Stunning Skin Tones and Perfect Portraits with FUJIFILM X Series