Photographing divorced family

You really can't know what they want, you have to ask them and do what they want.
They may not have told the kids yet or the friends. They may have a historical pose they use every year....
 
My natural devilish nature is taking over and I cant help myself. What are they doing even thinking about family pics during a divorce.
Tell them it's the photographic opportunity of a lifetime.

POSE 1 - Parents standing at the back glaring hatred at each other dressed in full santa + elf costumes, kids in the front smiling like nothing is wrong
POSE 2 - Foreground is Kids being bribed by parents. Background is someone in a judge costume with CUSTODY tagline somewhere
POSE 3 - Parents and kids dressed in worn clothes looking very miserable (unwashed, messy hair, no make up). Overexpose to emphasise washed out feeling

I could go on
 
I think Robin did a great job on the divorced couples with children. As mentioned by a several others above, let the couple decide what they want for pictures. At a minimum, I'm sure each parent would want shots of themselves with the kids to remember the holidays with.

Not every divorce ends with the parents despising each other or 'out to get' the other. Mine ended amicably, and 20+ years later, we still email and talk with each other regularly and exchange Christmas gifts. So, perhaps a family shot will work. Get a 'read' on how amicable/warlike they are and if needed, suggest poses accordingly.
 
I like robins shoots but I think you should try and get a group shot as well. There is something to be said for having both parents in the frame. They don't have to be snuggling or anything. [emoji12]


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Thank you guys for all the great advice. Going to try and do it tomorrow, weather permitting.


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If they and/or their children are homely, you could offer to lend them other people's pictures.
oh sure... you can be funny but when I am you respond back to be professional.....:bouncingsmileys:
 
I didn't go through this exact situation but went through something similiar. A few days ago i did help-portrait and shot this lovely girl with both her parents...seperately. They refused to be in one portrait together, i did not ask why but it was obvious it was due to the fact that the mother and father were not together anymore. It is sad to see,especially if a photo such as this would of been better with both of them together instead of 2 seperate photos, but i did not feel erred to ask the two to pose together with their child.

Think aboiut it this way, once the children grow up, this is a photo they will use to remember themselves as a child with their family. If it were upto me, i'd rather want to see my whole family together regardless of the fact that they were divorced. It'd mean alot to me, especially to reflect back on that day and say "hey, here is a happy moment with both my parents smiling and myself aswell"

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This sounds like a perfectly balanced, functional family, "The kids are sad because we're getting divorced and they don't quite understand the complexities of adult relationships, so we're making sure we keep them f****d up for as long as possible by having our pretend happiness immortalised in a bogus family photo!".

They're either sociopathic or evil geniuses :fangs:
 
Ok, here are some of the photos from that shoot. I was not happy with so of them, I'm sure you will be able to tell why, but she was ecstatic with all of them so I guess it was a success.
 

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Ok, here are some of the photos from that shoot. I was not happy with so of them, I'm sure you will be able to tell why, but she was ecstatic with all of them so I guess it was a success.

She was ecstatic about out of focus images?
 

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