Family Photos - Tips & Tricks

[mcflickr]

Hi All,

Just trying to prepare in advance. My siblings/respective spouses and kids (and I), would like to do up family photos for our parents for the holiday season. Anyways, I'm looking for some tips as I'm hoping to do a number of shots with the various family configurations (Just siblings, just guys, just girls, just kids... you get the idea). I'm hoping for a warmer outdoor feel, so I'm thinking to target the shoot for an hour before sunset. Catch of course, is that I'll also be taking the shots.

I have a remote trigger, so I'm thinking that I would compose/focus first, switch focus to manual, and then join the group and fire the trigger.

I'm mostly looking for suggestions, composition ideas, dress ideas (do we all wear the same thing, or mix it up). Things to avoid, that kind of thing. Also if there's anyone that lives in the lower mainland area of BC, I'd welcome any locations that have worked well for you. I have a tough time finding outdoor space outside of Vancouver.

Appreciate the help in advance!

M

 

[mcflickr]

Forgot to mention - would appreciate any camera/lens pairing suggestions, and shutter/aperture settings for a larger group (say around 10-12 people max).

 

[CameraClicker]

I hear Lower Mainland quite a bit, but I'm not sure where it is. I thought it was Vancouver, Richmond, Delta, New Westminister, Surrey, Langley, White Rock, and Abbotsford, sort of.

My first choice would be Stanley Park. Lots of open space, option to shoot with water or ground as the background. The beach at low tide usually has some driftwood tree roots. Kitsilano has beach too. If you find the right time, you could get everyone up to North Vancouver and stretch them all out along the Capilano Suspension Bridge, or take the lift up Grouse Mountain to get a choice of mountains or Vancouver as the background. Or, take them to the airport, inside the concourse you can shoot them with the statue that was on the back of the old $20 bill. You are within an hour or hour and a half of lots of great photo opportunities!
Ideally you want a longish lens, 70-200, say. F/8 or f/11 to get DOF, and a tripod so you can be in the shots. Depending on the day, time of day and how you feel about sky, there are as many options for settings as there are for locations. See if everyone can bring a couple of different coloured jackets, red, yellow, blue are good. Mix and match to taste. Red jackets with green evergreens in the background sounds good. Yellow stands out. You don't want the clothing to out shine the faces. Look through the Internet for group poses, get them into little groups of two or three instead of lining them up school class photo style.

 

[Designer]

You can try mixing up the groups, but people will become tired of that long before you are finished. You can also ask everyone to wear a certain color shirt, white, for instance, but there will invariably be one who doesn't follow the protocol. Use your imagination and make some kind of game of it. Pose for a shot, get a treat. Ask the one person everyone listens to to act as stage manager, getting everyone to the posing area when they are asked, etc. Don't be afraid to call out whoever is acting up by name, so everyone knows who is spoiling the shot. I think if you outline your plan well in advance, then people will be more likely to cooperate.

 

[dennybeall]

Do you have an idea of what your parents would most like to see and have for a keepsake? Would they most appreciate informal family groups or more formal portrait type shots? Are you going to print and frame the shots and present to them at another event?
As a parent I know I'd prefer a more informal family group photo but know others that would really like a formal studio look. Would dislike, intensely, everyone wearing a uniform.....
A good idea sometimes is for the group to be informally involved in a pastime they enjoy such as bowling, swimming, photography, shooting, etc...

 

[bratkinson]

One of the good things about 'family photos' is that typically, the family isn't as 'picky' as us photographers can be. So, simply getting shots with everyone looking at you, eyes open, smiling, in focus, and 'close enough' exposure will make everyone happy. Of course, having specific older-generation shots such as grandparents is important because they aren't likely to be around 20 years from now. Prints of those for each of the children/grand children would be good keepsakes/memories for a long time to come. Family shots of specific families and their children are also good to show how they are growing/grown up in future years.

As far as lenses, if you have the 'room', medium telephoto zooms provide a good method to get everyone in the picture. But even at 70mm, for example, to get 10 people in a shot (2 rows of 5), you'd need to be perhaps 20 feet back, and even further back if you have a crop sensor. Lighting from that distance may require a good flash after sunset as a popup flash is good for 10 feet and that's about it. For indoor shots, a flash is almost mandatory because to get everyone in focus (f8 for DOF, give or take), you'll need a fast enough shutter speed to stop their movement (1/100th or so) and a not-too-noisy ISO speed. When I did a family birthday a couple years ago with the 90 year old mother and her 5 children and their families, I had to resort to my 16-35mm zoom to get 'wide enough' in a small banquet room to get them all in the frame from 10-12 feet away on my crop sensor Canon 60D. Since moving to full frame, the 24mm end of my 24-105 is sufficiently wide enough.

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with group shots of more than 3-4 people is to get a picture with everyones' eyes open, smiling, and they're all looking at the camera. Babies and toddlers in the group make it even more difficult. I typically take 3-4 shots for groups of 5 or less, maybe 8 shots or so for groups of 6-10, and at least a dozen or more shots if the group is larger than 10 or so...just to get all their eyes open! Telling them to "OK, don't smile" or a joke sometimes works. Other times, fire 2 or 3 as fast as I can push the button (I don't use burst) may do the trick. Sometimes, it comes down to picking the one shot with the most eyes open when the group gets larger. Note that unless you have really 'fresh' batteries (or freshly charged), the flash won't fire after the first shot in semi-burst mode.

As for settings, without physically visiting the location beforehand, no specific settings can be decided in advance. And if outdoors, a cloudy day, bright day, or dusk and everywhere in between will use different settings. Perhaps the nearest 'general' setting I can offer is f8, to get a DOF of 3-4 feet or more for most of your shots. Check out the DOF calculator for your camera, lens and f-stop to see what DOFs result. Online Depth of Field Calculator

Most of all, spend time with your family. Don't get so wrapped up in getting 'a million' photos that you ignore your family. They won't always be with us. So now is the time to let them know you care.

 

[407370]

Take the expected family shots we are all used to seeing but make a family event out of it by doing a special session with everyone in an unusual setting like ZOMBIE MAKEUP and torn clothes. Go on it will be fun.

If the pics are clear the family will not care what settings you use.

 

[mcflickr]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looking forward to testing this out. Now to try to coordinate a time/date that everyone can agree upon.

 

[themark01]

Have a good quality of lenses, if you have the this you get everyone in the picture clearly. have a nice day.

 

[sm4him]

Have a good quality of lenses, if you have the this you get everyone in the picture clearly. have a nice day.

If only it actually were that easy!
Unfortunately, the best lens in the world, will not automatically ensure correct focus, never mind addressing those pesky little issues like pleasing composition and correct exposure.

OP: I stink at posing, so I really can't help you with that one, except to suggest you do what I tend to do--search the internet for inspiration!
In fact, I just finished doing a google search for "what to wear for a photo session," to get some ideas to relay to a mom and daughter I'm shooting a session with tomorrow evening.
I also use pinterest a lot for inspiration--just type in something like "group photo ideas" or "large family photo ideas," and see what you get. I usually get at least a few ideas of something from there. I generally just use it as inspiration--I don't try to recreate that photo, but I just look at enough ideas to start getting the creative juices flowing and thinking of ways to pose MY subjects, or props to bring, etc.