Photography Tips - 4 Tips for the Best Holiday Family Portrait - DIY in 5 Ep 89

Опубликовано 7 декабря 2018, 18:00

Trying to take a family holiday photo can be excruciating. Bad lighting, awkward posture and closed eyes are just a few of the many possible issues you might be dealing with. But by using these simple tips, you are guaranteed to take better holiday family photos worthy of a new Facebook banner.

Direct the shoot
Let’s start off with the subject of your photos - your family. To get everyone to loosen up and pay attention, you need to become the director. Make faces you want everyone to mimic, ask everyone to look one direction, then another, then directly to camera. If there are children, encourage them to be silly and have fun with it. Chances are they won’t want to stay still anyway. If you can be silly and enjoy the playfulness of the situation, your subjects will be more likely to follow suit and you stand to get some great personality shots - which are way better than canned smiles anyway.

Posing your subjects
Once everyone is having fun, think about body positioning. A great rule of thumb is - if it can bend, bend it. People don’t naturally stand straight up with straight limbs - so bend an arm to put a hand in a pocket, pop one knee for a more natural stance, sit on a chair, hook a finger in a belt loop, etc. Another great tip is to avoid having anyone’s heads directly next to or on top of another. Staggering body positions should help to mix it up. Finally, pose people in a way that flatters them. A slightly higher camera angle helps with double chins. Folks self-conscious about weight can lay down on their stomachs facing camera and let the kids pile on top! Have taller family members stand with their feet slightly farther apart. If your subjects are self-conscious about something, they are probably going to be hyper-focused on that in the final photos, so help them put their best face forward.

Lighting Tips
All these great expressions and poses are useless if you can’t see anyone due to poor lighting! Lighting is always a huge part of a good photo, no matter what type of photo you are taking. If you are indoors & want to avoid pro lighting equipment, position your group facing a window. If it’s a super bright day, you might want to use a thin sheer or white curtain or sheet to soften the light a bit. If you are shooting outside, avoid harsh shadows on the face and avoid having your subject looking directly into the sun or you’ll get all squinting eyes. Either position the sun behind the subjects for a fun silhouette or use a reflector or flash to fill in the subjects. You can also look for a bit of shade to position everyone under. Shooting just before sunset is ideal outdoor lighting.

Shooting tips
Ok, now let’s flip the focus to the photographer! Using a tripod, if possible, will allow you to spend more time directing your subjects and allow you more time to focus on the composition, exposure, white balance etc. Feel free to play with lenses - wide angle, close-up, zoom to switch between and play with who and what is in focus. And once you’ve got a bunch of head on shots, ditch the tripod and play with angles! Get high up on a ladder and shoot downward or lay on the ground and shoot upwards into a huddle. And in any shoot with kids, shooting in burst mode can be particularly beneficial to capture that one fleeting picture-perfect moment.

Now go forth, my friends, and take the one family photo to rule them all. What family photography tips do you have? Ever taken some hilariously awful family photos? Please share those stories in the comments!