Family portraits are a great way to capture a moment in your family’s history. You may find yourself wanting to capture family photos every few years or so, more often when the little ones are, well, little. Maybe you’re looking for a way to take matters into your own hands, or maybe you’ve been taking your own family photos for years and have found yourself being asked to take photos of friends, family members, or even paying clients.
Family portraits can be a lot of fun to shoot. Maybe you’ve been taking photos of your kids and want to expand your hobby into a side hustle. Maybe you just want to up the quality of your work for the family albums. Whatever your goal, we’re going to take a look at the best ways to do so. In this guide, we’re taking a look at how to easily get started in the world of family portrait photography.
The Basics
Unless you’re currently using a smartphone, you don’t need to worry too much about the camera. Any interchangeable lens camera can suit portrait photography well. There are some factors to consider, but an entry-level DSLR is perfectly capable of capturing sharp images. You may have heard that full-frame cameras are the best available, and while that may be true for certain instances, it’s not a necessity.
The same can be said about fast lenses. While a lens with a fast f/2.8 aperture can be advantageous, you’re likely going to render that fast aperture null very quickly when photographing groups. A rule to consider when working with groups is to double your aperture for every subject added to the scene. For example, an individual can be photographed at f/2.8, while a couple should be photographed at f/4. Of course, this is only a rough guideline. It doesn’t take into account focal length or our distance to the subject, both of which can also alter the depth of field.
Speaking of depth of field, we should talk a bit about backgrounds. A distracting background can ruin your image while a complimentary one can enhance it. Avoid having lines and shapes intersecting with your subject. No one wants to see a telephone pole or tree growing out of someone’s head. This can be remedied by shooting against a backdrop in a studio, but outdoor shooters need to be aware. Plan your shots ahead and look at all aspects of your frame.
Lighting
One of the most important aspects of portrait photography is lighting. We don’t have the time to cover everything there is to know about portrait lighting here, but we’ll touch upon the basics. In fact, we have a variety of guides on lighting available on the B&H Explora page!
First thing’s first: Get your light off of your camera. On-camera flash, sometimes called a speedlight, serves a purpose, but for visually pleasing portraits, the light should be situated away from the camera and angled in to create dynamic images with depth. This can be achieved by mounting a speedlight to a light stand and triggering it with a wireless transmitter.
A common mid-level lighting setup is a battery powered strobe. Throw a softbox on your strobe and you’ll have a nice, diffuse spread of light across your scene. If this results in harsh shadows, employ a reflector to bounce some light back into the scene. These come in a variety of shapes and colors. such as silver, gold, and even black. Silver and gold are used to alter color temperature, while black absorbs light, creating darker shadows with intent.
Posing
Once you get a grip on the technical aspects of portraiture, you can focus your efforts on making your subjects look their best. Posing can greatly alter how your audience views your image. Basic geometry and patterns are visually pleasing to the audience’s eye, so play to those basic instincts. Remember how the kids in class were posed from shortest to tallest on school picture day? Good posing can also accentuate your subjects’ best features while hiding unflattering ones, so adjust your approach person to person.
Composition
Posing and background selection are imperative when composing our image, but there are other tips and techniques that can enhance your overall image. Leading lines are a visual aid to guide your viewer through the image. An obvious choice is a fence or trail leading to our subject. Get creative and look for fun and interesting lines and shapes in your images.
For tighter crops, be careful where you cut off the subject. For families with kids, get those kids off the ground or the parents down to their children’s level. Once everyone is at a similar level, we can adjust our crop. There are certain points on the body where we can crop for the best visual results, such as mid-shin, just above the knees, waist up and so on. Just don’t crop on the joints. Of course, the amount of cropping we do will vary based on the type of portrait we’re capturing.
Watch the head room. This is in reference to the space at the top of the frame between your subject’s head and the frame edge. We want space for visual strength but also for future cropping or even framing once printed. We also want to avoid adding too much headroom. I’ve seen this time and time again and have even done this myself in an effort to avoid cutting it too close.
For the Aspiring Professional
If you’re planning on working with clients, you may want to meet with them ahead of time to establish their wants and desires. This can be in person or done virtually. During this meeting, you can discuss things like a shot list and wardrobe, as well as any questions the clients might have.
Regarding wardrobe, your client might ask, “What should we wear?” Ultimately, this is up to the client, as only they know what their style is. You may suggest a certain attire that expresses their personality, or something based on the location. An outdoorsy shoot can call for plaid and hiking boots. Look at other family portraits for ideas. The same can be said for compositions and posing. Learn from great examples and form your own approach from there.
With those newly captured images, you’ll want to put them out there to reach a wider clientele. Building your web presence is key to getting new clients. First and foremost, you should invest time in your social media profiles. Some allow you to schedule posts, so you can spend an hour on a rainy day preparing a week’s worth of posts.
After social media, consider making a website. There are so many resources available online to aid you in designing your own website. Wix and Squarespace are among the most popular and offer great customization for making your website feel like your own space. Of course, there are also plenty of pre-set layouts to choose from if you’d prefer to get something up quickly. Don’t worry about the number of photos on your site. Many of the best photographers will tell you that you only need a handful of images to sell your abilities.
Put It to Practice
Put these new techniques into practice and offer your newly found services up to friends and family. Practice makes perfect, and there’s no better way to practice than to take some shots. Friends and family have little to no expectations and are hopefully willing to lend a hand as you refine your skills in your photographic journey.
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when starting your journey as a family portrait photographer. Whether you’re simply trying to capture better quality photos of your own family, or aiming to make your passion a career, watch the lighting, posing, and composition and you’ll be off to a great start. To learn more about portrait photography, check out our other articles and videos on the B&H Explora page.
