Photography marks the memories of a lifetime, preserving them forever. Photography can be all very fun and glamorous when it comes to shooting models, but it is a whole different story when it comes to shooting family portraits. Family portraits can be of couples, children, child with parent, the whole family and even the extended bunch of relatives. Fortunately for families and their photographers, times have moved well past your conventional frames where every member of the family is wearing a tight smile with the whole family fake posing a picture perfect visual hierarchy. Modern times allow us to experiment with family portraits that are far more personal, comfortable and memorable by the constructive communication between the family and their photographer. The best family portraits ever taken are the ones that aren’t strictly planned or instructed, instead casually light and natural. If you’re the photographer, the more your client family manages to enjoy themselves and get comfortable, the better the shoot will go. If you’re the family, the more open minded and free you keep your options, the more memorable and satisfying the experience will be as well as the results!
For a family portrait shoot to be a successful one, it is very important that both the party of family members and the family photographer establish a comfortable and communicative relationship among one another. In addition to reach a communicative comfort level with your client family or photography, it is also important to make sure that both your party family and yourself (the photographer) maintain an open mind when it comes to creativity and experimentation with different backgrounds, settings, etc. Sometimes just a few shots in a pretty garden can do the trick, while other times setting out to more romantic and scenic destinations as backdrops such as beaches and meadows result is a far lovelier picture. Indoor studios with boring settings are so out of fashion and most of the time all it takes to achieve the perfect family photography is the most place where the family is happiest and most comfortable.
Although this may seem of slightly less importance, it is actually the most essential factor that the family being photographed is in an overall good mood and giving off a pleasant vibe to each other. Of course the internal affairs of a family are none of the photographer’s concern but it is important that the client family is aware that in order for the photographer to do their job well, a cooperative and pleasant group is necessary. This is very important in ensuring that the family portrait turns out to be a golden memory after all. Some of the best shots are the ones where a couple are naturally captured looking at each other with love or children are happily running around playing. Have a look at a few lovely and creative examples of family portraits below.
