5 Quick DIY Tips for Photographing Families!

How to take professional looking pictures - DIY Photo Tips

I absolutely love taking photos of families, maybe its the challenge, the craziness or the fun. I think its actually all of the above. I've put together a quick list of things that will help make your family photos better & hopefully less stressful for all!

1) Make the photo fun - a 2 yr old is definitely going to rebel if mom is forcing her to stand still look at the camera and smile - instead try to get the 2 yr old to interact with her family members first (hug, kiss, tickles, whatever it is) then ask for her to look and smile - my favorite images are the candid ones anyways =) 

For a serious photographer - the instant you arrive on the shoot, start getting shots of the kiddos, these can be some of my favorite shots from the whole shoot - just because the kiddos are in the stage of who are you and what are you doing. (Caroline on Left - first shot of the shoot, before heading outdoors)

2) Shoot outdoors - I LOVE THE OUTDOORS, I live in Colorado so I should love them. Look for shade. Make sure EVERYONE is fully in the shade, even if you know nothing about lighting you will still come up with stellar images in the shade. Make sure your background is in the shade too.

Try fun things - bring a chair into the middle of a field - Khloe on Right - at Mid-day usually not the best lighting conditions, but I pulled it off here using a reflector.

3) Remember the camera has absolutely no idea what you are taking photos of so its going to try and decide what it thinks the exposure is. The camera determines its exposure from averaging all the color values into a drab gray color (like an overcast sky) so when photographing just look at the scene if you have only really bright whites the camera is going to take that white and make it gray (so it will be slightly under exposed) same with a really black scene - the camera will also make that gray. Just try to find a background with a variety of shades of color then you will have the most success.

4) Take more than just one shot - families have expressions, take a decent quantity unless you are sure that one came out. I take at least 2 of every shot because of expressions. If someone is a blinker, I usually have to take a few more. 

5) Hire me, haha or someone else to take your family photos - sometimes kids just react better to someone else doing the shots instead of a family member they are used to.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment.

Sharon