As parents, we know how hard it can be to get the whole family in one cohesive and captivating picture. That is one of the reasons we created Coverd Photo in the first place – to find a way to live in the moment while preserving the memory.
From our experience, we know a thing or two about creating the perfect family shots. Coverd wants to let you in on some of our very best tips when it comes to DIY family portraits and kids photography. Remember, you don’t need to be a pro to implement some of these tips into your basic family photography.
1. Choose a background that is simple and not distracting (a park or backyard is simple, a major intersection is distracting).
2. Outdoor portraits are best near dawn and dusk. Shooting in the middle of the day can cause harsh shadows. Shoot early morning or late afternoon.
3. Front Light: If the subject has to look in to the sun, ask them to close their eyes and open them on the count of three, but be ready as the photographer.
4. Clouds are your friend on a sunny day.
5. Parks are great. Kids can run around and you can find shaded areas.
6. Don’t try and force your kids to pose. Allow them to interact naturally in the beginning and then pose them a bit more later on. The shots will look more natural and the shoot will go much smoother. Let kids be kids!
7. Arrange people at different levels. Some can be standing while others are sitting. Bottom line – mix it up!
8. Having your youngest instruct the family poses can be fun (unless there is water and your kids are devils).
9. When shooting two kids tell them to play a game of telephone or whisper a funny secret they don’t want mom to hear. Get dad involved, too, for additional laughs.
10. The one-person rule: This is a fun add-on photo. When taking a family photo, arrange it so that only one person is looking at the camera. Then, have everyone else in the picture looking at the one person with an amused look. These are great for laughs and creativity.
11. Getting a shot of the parents sitting while kids standing (ideally above) and looking at the parents is always great (think the Brady Bunch intro).
12. Make sure everyone is touching and there are no awkward spaces between people. That is photographer speak for ‘get together people, act like you like each other!’
13. Bring out the tripod to use a self-timer (or better yet, keep the tripod in the closet and just hire Coverd!)
14. Tape a stuffed animal to the top of the camera in order to grab your young ones’ attention.
15. Coordinate your clothing so you are all dressed within the same color scheme. If your daughter is going for pink, perhaps mustard on your husband isn’t the best.
16. Lastly, don’t drink and take photos at the same time! This can be very dangerous and lead to things like blurry photos, disappointed family members, or terrible lighting (check out the featured image above).
Now that you have our photo director’s best tips for photographing your family, get out there and start snapping. Everyday is a good day to capture the precious moments in your family’s life. And if you’re not up for the DIY or want to make sure everyone is in the picture, Coverd is here to help.
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