1st family shoot

[Danielle10]

Hi guys,
hopefully someone can help me. My bosses wife asked if I am able to take some family photographs of them.
Im after some ideas or any advice really on how to go about this. How to have them pose, what I should say to them, ect so that its nice, short and sweet and a bit fun for everyone.
Im thinking of candids as well as some portraits. The kids are aged 8 10 and 12 and obviously my boss and his wife will be in the shots. I was thinking of including their dog as well - after all she's part of the family too.

This may also be a silly question but how do I go about doing high res images as well?
Any ideas and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

[colinbm]

Hi Dani
No ideas really
One clue I have been told is to tell the parents to let the kids dress in the clothes of their own choice. Helps keep the lips up
Do Mum & Dad first to let the juniors suss out the process first & lets them relax.

The next rule is don't do kids & animals

I hope you still have a job after this OR a giant rise & promotion
Cheers
Col

[ElectricImages]

If you want to do candids, make sure you choose a location that lends itself to both formal and candid photography. A park is good because it has lots of opportunities for candids, as well as trees so you can shoot formal shots in the shade with the help of some fill flash and/or reflectors.

Get everyone to wear long-sleeved clothing and pants/dresses, which will look better in your formal shots and put the focus on the faces; and I'd personally ask them to think about what they're wearing and colour coordinate, using plain, classic colours rather than patterns, logos, or outrageous fluoros. Logos are often designed to catch attention, and there's nothing worse than taking a formal portrait with a massive screaming logo text across someone's front.

[KLi]

If it's going to be a outdoor shoot, find nice shade areas under trees or next to buildings. This will help with harsh shadows and squinting eyes because of the sun.

Get them to wear something simple and not too distracting, keep it clean.

For candid shots give them some tasks or game to do, get their focus off you and also have fun.

Control your depth of field and try to isolate your subjects, you don't really need to have much background since the focus is on the family.

There are lots of information on portraits on the forum I think, with tips and guide.

[Tikira]

Gday Danielle. We are in a similar position, taking our first family group shot this weekend, however for a workmate not a boss.. There is some good advice above particularly about plain clothing. We have looked at a number of portrait photos on AP & the web to try and get a couple of standard set ups. We also went out last weekend at a similar time and I took photos of Di to check out backgrounds, lighting and shadows etc. This means we are a little more prepared for the upcoming weekend.

We googled family portrait poses and we liked this video. (there are heaps of others also)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_xU6IIGC7U

We also like the following site which has some great advice on taking portrait photos

http://www.lumitouch.com/benstudiotutorial/rules.html


We hope this helps

Wayne & Di

[fabian628]

This may also be a silly question but how do I go about doing high res images as well?

I may be not understanding the question, but using the highest resolution of your camera should be enough ( I assume it is 10PM +) 10mp can pull off A2 size easily, most probably A1 also. You could try to get more resolution by taking a panorama, this works if no one is moving.

[Danielle10]

thankyou everyone, i kind of thought along those longs, just needed some extra guidance.
Thanks wayne and Di, will have a look at those sites now.
I was just wondering what kind of things i should get them to do (as in a task)
Wish me luck , i have a couple of weeks to prepare

[Mark L]

Wish me luck , i have a couple of weeks to prepare

Here's wishing you luck. And let us know in a couple of weeks how you went.
And my only advise is to enjoy what you're doing, this tends to have a positive effect on those around you.

[colinbm]

Hi Dani
I was looking in my newsagents today & saw an interesting magazine that maybe of help to you.
Better Photoshop Techniques, about Portraits, issue 25.
http://www.betterphotoshoptechniques.com/
Good luck
Col

[robcran]

One tip I could offer is this. When you finish your sequence of shots for a particular pose tell them "ok that's it". Then you get a quick shot in just as they all relax. You have to be ready for it though.