The title is a little tongue in cheek… Obviously you cannot simply purchase all the camera equipment and lighting set up, let alone have a room for a huge backdrop. But a few things will encourage better family portraits, whether you are taking them yourself or heading to our studio for your own fine art portrait photography. But first a little story
This week I decided to take a new set of photographs of my own children. Jack has been quite poorly and had a nose tube for feeding for quite a while, but he just had an operation to fit a gastro tube which means for the first time since last year we can look at his beautiful face. We have taken lots of snap shots but I unconsciously have avoided a proper studio portrait as I don’t want him to be defined by a nose tube. So my own family portrait was long overdue.
I’m lucky Jack and his big sister Mia love each other a lot, after his operation she was one of the first people he mentioned. We are lucky she takes it all in her stride, she is such a good girl when one of us is away for a few days with Jack or she has to sit at boring appointments. And she knows to be gentle with him, and how brave he is
So I was excited about our shoot but it reminded me what a parent goes through when they are preparing for a shoot…
Perfect outfits
I think coordination is important, it doesn’t need to match but tonally going together is best – in my artistic opinion. Personally I prefer less pattern and no characters, logos or icons – make it more about them and not the clothes. Keep it simple but beautiful. Its a good idea to think where you might want to hang the photo and ensure backdrops as well as outfits go with your decor
Perfect time
If your little one is very grumpy at a certain time of day – it’s probably easiest to avoid then. In the past I have tried late afternoon shoots – after school run with my children and its a disaster – they are shattered and not in the mood! Equally, during winter its almost impossible to do studio shoots for me without a daylight, I use studio lights but we need ambient light too as I cannot put the overhead lights on as it would spoil the photographs and children don’t like sitting in the dark whilst a light flashes off
Happy and healthy
If they aren’t feeling too well I always say lets reschedule, if they are feeling rough they aren’t like to show off their personality
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So if we are all prepped, on the day, have fun. Of course there will be lots of outtakes but you would be surprised how much you love outtakes. Let them be silly, let them show of their personalities and if they like tickles its always the easiest way to get a natural smile. And yes I do get a lot of outtakes even on my own shoots. Here are a few of my favourites outakes from our family portrait session
